Imagine a future where your phone beeps with the message that your late father’s “digital immortal” bot is ready. This promise of chatting with a virtual version of your loved one – possibly through a virtual reality (VR) headset – is like being immersed in a science fiction movie, both thrilling and a little scary.
As you interact with this digital father, you experience an emotional rollercoaster. You uncover secrets and stories you never knew, and your memory of the real person changes.
This is not a far-off, hypothetical scenario. The digital afterlife research industry is developing rapidly. Several companies promise to create virtual reconstructions of the deceased based on their digital footprints.
From artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots and virtual avatars to holograms, this technology offers a strange mix of comfort and disruption, capable of drawing us into deeply personal experiences that blur the lines between past and present, memory and reality.
As the digital afterlife industry grows, significant ethical and emotional challenges arise, including concerns about consent, privacy, and the psychological impact on the living.
What is the digital afterlife industry?
VR and AI technologies are enabling virtual reconstructions of our loved ones. Companies in this niche industry are using data from social media posts, emails, text messages and voice recordings to create digital personas that can interact with the living.
Although it is still a niche, the number of players in the digital afterlife industry is growing.
HereAfter allows users to record stories and messages during their lifetime for loved ones to access posthumously, while MyWishes offers the ability to send pre-scheduled messages after death, allowing people to remain present in the lives of the living.
Hanson Robotics has developed robot busts that interact with people using the memories and personality traits of the deceased. Project December gives users access to so-called “deep AI” to have text-based conversations with the deceased.
Generative AI also plays a crucial role in the digital afterlife industry. These technologies enable the creation of extremely realistic and interactive digital personas. However, the high level of realism can blur the line between reality and simulation. This can improve the user experience, but also cause emotional and psychological distress.
A technology that invites abuse
Digital afterlife technologies can support the grieving process by providing continuity and connection with the deceased. Hearing a loved one’s voice or seeing their image can provide comfort and help process the loss.
For some of us, these digital immortals could be therapeutic tools, helping us preserve positive memories and feel close to loved ones even after they die.
For others, however, the emotional impact can be profoundly negative, exacerbating grief rather than alleviating it. AI replicas of loved ones can cause psychological harm if the bereaved have unwanted interactions with them. Essentially, this is a form of “digital haunting.”
Other important issues and ethical concerns related to this technology include consent, autonomy and privacy.
For example, it may be that the deceased did not consent to the use of his or her data for a “digital afterlife”.
There is also a risk of misuse and data manipulation. Companies could exploit digital immortals for commercial purposes and use them to advertise products or services. Digital personalities could be altered to convey messages or behaviors that the deceased would never have approved of.
We need regulation
To address concerns about this rapidly growing industry, we need to update our legal frameworks. We need to address issues such as digital estate planning, inheritance of the deceased’s digital personas, and ownership of digital memories.
The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) recognizes data protection rights even after death, but enforcement presents challenges.
Social media platforms control data access of deceased users, often against the wishes of the heirs, and clauses such as “no right of survivorship” complicate matters. Limited platform practices hinder the effectiveness of the GDPR. Comprehensive protection requires a reassessment of contractual rules that are aligned with human rights.
The digital afterlife industry offers comfort and memory protection, but raises ethical and emotional concerns. Implementing thoughtful regulations and ethical guidelines can honor both the living and the dead and ensure that digital immortality enhances our humanity.
What can we do?
Researchers have recommended several ethical guidelines and regulations. Some recommendations include:
- Obtaining informed and documented consent before creating digital personas of people before their death
- Age restrictions to protect vulnerable groups
- clear disclaimers to ensure transparency
- and strict data protection and security measures.
A 2018 study drew on ethical frameworks in archaeology and proposed considering digital remains as an integral part of the person and proposed regulations to ensure the dignity of the remains, especially in reconstruction services.
Dialogue between policymakers, industry and academia is crucial to developing ethical and regulatory solutions. Providers should also provide ways for users to respectfully terminate their interactions with digital persons.
Through careful and responsible development, we can create a future in which digital afterlife technologies provide meaningful and respectful tributes to our loved ones.
As we navigate this brave new world, it is important to weigh the benefits of staying in touch with our loved ones against the potential risks and ethical dilemmas.
In this way, we can ensure that the digital afterlife industry evolves in a way that respects the memory of the deceased and supports the emotional wellbeing of the living.
This article originally appeared on The Conversation.
