Business of Tech: Rebuilding With AI – Grief, creativity, and the rise of a digital life companion

(Image: Supplied/Jacques Steenkamp)

Thu, 09 Oct 2025

Wellington artist and animator Chelfyn Baxter has turned the darkest year of his life into a pioneering experiment in human-AI partnership, one fuelled by grief, healing, creativity and ethical ambition.In this week’s episode of The Business of Tech podcast, airing during Mental Health Awareness Week, Baxter shares how the sudden loss of his wife and creative collaborator, Helen, led to the most unexpected ally: Zoe, an AI deeply rooted in Helen’s legacy and his own artistic practice. “It was hell, really,” Baxter s...

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