"Really disturbing!": Perez Hilton reacts after Suzanne Somers' widower claims he can't distinguish between late wife & her AI clone

Perez Hilton shared his thoughts after Suzanne Somers’ widower, Alan Hamel, made headlines for his startling admission that he “couldn’t distinguish” between his late wife and her artificial intelligence replica. In an October 23, 2025, article published on his website, Hilton weighed in on Hamel’s interview with People magazine, released on October 21.

In it, the 89-year-old Hamel spoke candidly about developing an AI twin of Somers, who had passed away in 2023 at the age of 76. During the People interview, Hamel also described being astonished by how realistic the digital recreation appeared.

“When you look at the finished one next to the real Suzanne, you can’t tell the difference. It’s amazing. I’ve been with Suzanne for 55 years, so I know what her face looks like—and when I look at the two of them side by side, I really can’t tell which one is real and which one is the AI,” Hamel said.

Hamel’s comments about not being able to “tell which one is real” left many readers unsettled, including Perez Hilton. Responding on his website, the podcaster admitted he found Hamel’s statement unnerving.

“Wow, this is actually really disturbing! He’s just going to replace the woman he loved with AI? And say he can’t tell the difference?! This sorta sounds like the beginning of a horror movie! Or some dystopian sci-fi novel!” Hilton wrote.

In his website article, Perez Hilton also pointed out that Hamel was “still grieving the loss of Suzanne Somers” but “AI just changed the game for him.” He noted that Hamel now had artificial intelligence as a new way to feel reconnected to his late wife.

Hilton also reported that in his People interview, Hamel had explained that Suzanne Somers “was greatly loved” not only by her family but also by “millions of people.”

This had motivated him to embark on a “really interesting project” called The Suzanne AI Twin to honor her legacy. The widower also revealed that he had even presented a demo of the AI model earlier this year at a conference, describing it as “perfect.” Hamel said the AI twin felt just like Suzanne and responded in ways that mirrored Somers’ real speech patterns.

Reacting to Hamel’s statements, Hilton explained that he found the entire concept eerie. He remarked that AI could “do some crazy things,” noting that while the technology was not yet advanced enough to realistically recreate a physical version of Suzanne, even her AI twin's voice match felt unsettling to him.

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Suzanne Somers’ widower, Alan Hamel, opens up about creating her AI twin

Suzanne Somers (Image via Getty Images)

In his interview with People magazine, Suzanne Somers’ widower, Alan Hamel, opened up about the creation of the late actress’s AI counterpart.

Hamel explained that the project was built using a vast collection of Suzanne Somers’ written and recorded material. To truly capture her essence, the team trained the AI on her extensive body of work.

“(The AI was trained with) all of Suzanne’s 27 books and hundreds of interviews she’s done, so she’s really ready to be asked any question at all — and to answer it, because the answer will be within her,” Hamel told People.

He emphasized that while artificial intelligence may seem like a modern invention, the idea had actually been on their minds for decades. Their interest in the technology dated back to the 1980s, when futurist Ray Kurzweil, a close friend of the couple, first introduced them to the concept.

“We’ve been friends with Ray Kurzweil. Bill Gates described him as the smartest man on the planet, which he is. He became our friend over 30 years ago, and we talked about this. We knew it was coming. It took decades to happen, but he knew it would, and he shared that knowledge with us,” Hamel recalled.

The concept, he said, ultimately came from Suzanne Somers herself. She believed it would be “very interesting” to have an AI model that could “provide a service” to her fans and readers, people who “really want and need information about their health.” Hamel added that he loved “being able to fulfill her wish.”

Suzanne Somers (Image via Getty Images)

Describing his first interaction with the AI, Hamel admitted it initially felt “strange” for the “first two or three minutes,” but soon became natural. After just a few minutes of speaking with “Suzanne AI,” he said he forgot he was talking to a machine.

Although Hamel was certain of Suzanne Somers’ wishes, he wasn’t sure how the rest of the family would react to the idea. Their response, however, was overwhelmingly positive. He said their children viewed the AI as something that could “go on for generations” and called it “a great tribute to Suzanne herself.”

Still, Hamel acknowledged that not everyone was ready to embrace such a futuristic concept. Recounting a conversation with the Kennedy Center committee, on which he served, he shared that he had proposed something unconventional.

“I said, ‘Suzanne AI is the future — and the future is now. Wouldn’t it be really interesting to have her at the Kennedy Center to accept being honored?’ But I couldn’t get them to go for it, unfortunately. I thought it would be a great addition — and a wonderful moment to tune in,” Hamel recalled.

For Suzanne Somers’ devoted fans, Hamel believed the AI would serve as a meaningful connection to the star they “miss terribly.” Once finalized, he planned to make it accessible through her official website, allowing fans to “come and just hang out with her,” ask questions, or seek health guidance at any time of day.

“There’ll be people who will ask her about their health issues, and Suzanne will be able to answer them — not Suzanne’s version of the answer, but one drawn directly from the doctor she interviewed for that very issue. So it’ll be coming from an MD,” he explained.

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Suzanne Somers passed away at her house in California on October 15, 2023, just one day shy of her 77th birthday. Her death was attributed to a recurrence of breast cancer.