Suzanne Somers is back — in a way.
An artificial intelligence clone of the late “Three’s Company” actress was recently seen interacting with her husband, Alan Hamel, nearly two years after her shocking death in October 2023.
“Seeing you is like a breath of fresh air,” the clone told Hamel, 88, in a video of a public protest on Monday. On Tuesday, Hamel told The Post that the idea for an AI twin for Somers “started decades ago.”
About 35 or 40 years ago, he recalled the actress saying, “I’d really like to have an AI twin of Suzanne Somers representing me.” Hamel confirmed to The Post that he had commissioned the “AI twin.” Days before he was set to speak at an AI conference in Laguna Beach, California, last week, he told the CEO of the AI company Hollo, Rex Wong, “Wouldn’t it be great if we could do something with Suzanne?”
“It seems a little late to start,” he recalled Wong telling him. But after talking to the robotics company Realbotix Corp., Wong said they could create an AI clone of the actress. “So what they did was they captured her voice perfectly, and I was able to ask it a few questions,” Hamel said. The clone could report back on events from her more than 50-year acting career. Somers, as well as her 46-year marriage to Hamel.
The actress’s robot — which includes Somers’ signature blonde hair, unique appearance, voice, and speech patterns — was able to interact with Hamel using footage and audio recordings taken throughout the “American Graffiti” actress’s nearly 77-year life. The idea for a robot replica of Somers “came from her completely,” Hamel explained. “She probably knew her life was going to be cut short [after her lifelong battle with cancer].”
Hollo worked with robotics company Realbotix to build the robot in just a few days. “We put it together pretty quickly,” Realbotix CEO Andrew Kiguel told The Post. Kiguel said that when he saw Hamel interact with his “twin,” “It was pretty moving.” The company also confirmed that the robot was her idea Hamel.
Hamel also revealed to The Post that he has “long-term plans” for Somers’ AI clone. After last week’s show, he told Hollo’s CEO that once they “finish the Suzanne AI twin,” he wants to “take it to the distributor of ‘Three’s Company’ and suggest we do a few more episodes.” He also wants to go to the John Ritter estate to buy a John Ritter AI twin for the next “Three’s Company.”
“I think she would laugh a lot and be really excited about it,” Hamel said of the AI twin. “She would attest to it. I’m excited about it. My family is excited about it.” “Someday the world will see Suzanne Somers again,” he added. “Alan Hamel was my wonderful husband for 55 years,” Somers’ “digital twin” shared in this month’s exhibition. “He was my partner in everything from life to love, and we shared so many wonderful memories together.”
When asked about a specific memory from her time with her husband, Somers’s doppelganger shared a story about a cooking scene the couple once filmed together. “One of my favorite scenes was when Alan and I were filming a cooking scene, a long time ago,” the doppelganger replied. “We had a little problem with the blender,” the doppelganger continued. “Simply put, things didn’t go as planned and we ended up wearing more smoothies than we actually made.
“We laughed a lot and it became a running joke in our house,” the copy added. “Those fun moments really brought us closer together.” Somers was first diagnosed with breast cancer in April 2000. Hamel told Page Six in July 2023 that her cancer had returned. She died on October 15, 2023 — just one day before her 77th birthday. “Suzanne Somers passed away peacefully at home in the early morning hours of October 15. She had been a 23-year survivor of aggressive breast cancer,” the “Step by Step” actress’s publicist, R. Couri Hay, announced at the time.
