About a third of the residents of the Volga region are willing to pay for the creation of their digital copy.

      MWS AI (part of MTS Web Services) conducted a survey and found out how residents of Tatarstan and other regions feel about creating their digital copy. More than half of the respondents from the Volga region are willing to create a digital copy, most often for the sake of their loved ones, so as not to leave them alone after death. Unlike the all-Russian average, the willingness to create a copy during one's lifetime in the Volga Federal District is slightly higher. The majority of respondents believe that such technology should be regulated by law. A digital copy is a virtual representation of a person created using AI, which reproduces the characteristics of their speech, communication style, and other individual traits, and can interact with people on their behalf, including after their death. To create such a copy, correspondence, voice recordings, photos and videos, social media posts, documents, and other data that form a person's digital footprint can be used. According to the MWS AI survey, 55% of respondents from the Volga region would agree to create their own digital copy while alive. 32% answered that they would create a copy for the sake of their loved ones, so as not to leave them alone. 26% of residents of the Volga Federal District are ready to talk to the digital copy of a deceased person without any reservations, while another 20% allow such communication only in the first years after the loss. 44% of respondents believe that the creation and use of AI copies of the deceased should be regulated by law. Another 37% believe that the person's consent during their lifetime is sufficient, 9% advocate for a complete ban on the technology, and 10% are confident that regulation is not needed. When choosing between two options, 51% believe it is more correct to forget and move on, while 32% would prefer to keep a copy of the deceased. 15% of residents of the district would create their copy for money, 8% for their own immortality. 45% would not do this. 27% of respondents are willing to pay for a copy. 14% allow for a one-time payment, 9% for a monthly subscription, and another 5% are ready to bequeath part of their property for its maintenance. Only 25% would agree to create a copy for free, while 48% are not willing to spend money on it at all. The survey involved over 1,000 residents of Russian cities. The Volga region almost exactly mirrors the all-Russian picture, with discrepancies not exceeding three percentage points on any question. Here, the willingness to create a copy during one's lifetime is slightly higher, 55% compared to 53% nationwide, and residents of the district slightly more often consider the person's consent during their lifetime sufficient, 37% versus 35%. The demand to regulate the technology by law is mentioned as frequently as the average across Russia.

      More news on the event:

      A third of residents of the Volga region are willing to pay for the creation of their digital copy

      About a third of Tatarstan residents and residents of the Volga region are willing to pay for the creation of their digital copy, according to the MWS AI survey. 12:57 04.09.2026 IA Tatar-inform - Kazan

      About a third of residents of the Volga region are willing to pay for the creation of their digital copy

      MWS AI (part of MTS Web Services) conducted a survey and found out how residents of Tatarstan and other regions feel about creating their digital copy. 11:48 04.09.2026 Ministry of IT and Communications - Kazan

      A third of residents of the Volga region are ready to create their digital copy

      55% of respondents in the Volga Federal District would agree to create their digital copy while alive. 11:24 04.09.2026 TatCenter.ru - Kazan

      About a third of residents of the Volga region are willing to pay for the creation of their digital copy

      MWS AI (part of MTS Web Services) conducted a survey and found out how residents of Tatarstan and other regions feel about creating their digital copy. 10:58 04.09.2026 Menzelinsk District - Menzelinsk

      News from neighboring regions on the topic:

      Analysts found out how residents of the South Urals feel about digital copies of their relatives

      MWS AI (part of MTS Web Services) conducted a survey and found out how residents of the South Urals feel about digital copies. 15:37 04.09.2026 News Agency Dostup - Chelyabinsk

      Residents of Udmurtia are willing to leave a digital copy of themselves after death, but do not want to talk to the copy of a deceased loved one

      Photo generated by AI

      55% of residents of the Volga region would agree to create their own digital copy while alive, which will continue to exist after their death. 14:48 03.09.2026 Komsomolskaya Pravda - Izhevsk

      MTS Web Services and TPU join forces to develop AI solutions in industry

      MTS Web Services (MWS, part of PJSC "MTS") and Tomsk Polytechnic University begin strategic cooperation in the field of artificial intelligence for industry. 14:47 03.09.2026 TPU - Tomsk