Imagine a future in which your phone rings with a message that your deceased father’s “digital immortal” robot is ready. This promise of chatting with a virtual version of your loved one – perhaps via a virtual reality (VR) headset – is like stepping into a science fiction movie, both thrilling and a little disturbing.
As you interact with this digital dad, you find yourself on an emotional roller coaster. You discover secrets and stories you never knew, changing the way you remember the real you.
This is not a distant, hypothetical scenario. The digital afterlife industry is evolving rapidly. Several companies promise to create virtual reconstructions of deceased individuals based on their digital footprints.
From artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots to virtual avatars to holograms, this technology offers a strange mix of comfort and disruption. It can draw us into deeply personal experiences that blur the lines between past and present, memory and reality.
As the digital afterlife industry grows, it raises significant ethical and emotional challenges. These include concerns about consent, privacy and the psychological impact on the living.
What is the afterlife digital industry?
VR and AI technologies make virtual reconstructions of our loved ones possible. Companies in this niche sector use data from social media posts, emails, text messages and voice recordings to create digital personalities that can interact with the living.
Although still a niche, the number of players in the digital afterlife sector is growing.
HereAfter allows users to record stories and messages during their lifetime, which their loved ones can then access posthumously. MyWishes offers the ability to send pre-programmed messages after death, thereby maintaining a presence in the lives of the living.
Hanson Robotics has created robotic busts that interact with people using the memories and personality traits of the deceased. Project December allows users to access what is called “deep AI” to engage in text conversations with those who have passed away.
Generative AI also plays a crucial role in the digital afterlife industry. These technologies enable the creation of highly realistic and interactive digital characters. But the high level of realism can blur the line between reality and simulation. This can improve the user experience, but can also cause emotional and psychological distress.
Hereafter, subsequently
Technology ripe for misuse
Digital afterlife technologies can facilitate the grieving process by providing continuity and connection with the deceased. Hearing the voice of a loved one or seeing their image can bring comfort and help cope with the loss.
For some of us, these digital immortals could be therapeutic tools. They can help us maintain positive memories and feel close to our loved ones even after they have died.
But for others, the emotional impact can be profoundly negative, exacerbating grief rather than alleviating it. AI recreations of loved ones can potentially cause psychological harm if the bereaved end up having unwanted interactions with them. It is essentially about being subjected to a “digital obsession”.
Other major issues and ethical concerns surrounding this technology include consent, autonomy, and privacy.
For example, the deceased may not have agreed to their data being used for a “digital afterlife”.
There is also a risk of misuse and manipulation of data. Companies could exploit digital immortals for commercial purposes, using them to promote products or services. Digital characters could be modified to convey messages or behaviors that the deceased would never have adopted.
We need regulation
To address concerns about this emerging industry, we need to update our legal frameworks. We need to address issues such as digital estate planning, who inherits the deceased’s digital personalities, and ownership of digital memory.
The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) recognizes post-mortem privacy rights, but faces implementation challenges.
Social media platforms control access to deceased users’ data, often against the wishes of heirs, with clauses such as “no right of survivorship” complicating matters. Limited platform practices hinder the effectiveness of GDPR. Comprehensive protection requires a reassessment of contractual rules, aligning them with human rights.
The digital afterlife industry offers comfort and memory preservation, but raises ethical and emotional concerns. Implementing thoughtful regulations and ethical guidelines can honor both the living and the dead, to ensure that digital immortality enhances our humanity.
What can we do?
Researchers have recommended several ethical guidelines and regulations. Some recommendations include:
- obtain informed and documented consent before creating digital personas of people before their death
- age restrictions to protect vulnerable groups
- clear warnings to ensure transparency
- and strict data privacy and security measures.
Drawing on ethical frameworks from archaeology, a 2018 study suggested treating digital remains as an integral part of personhood, proposing regulations to ensure dignity, particularly in recreation services.
Dialogue between policymakers, industry and academia is crucial to developing ethical and regulatory solutions. Providers should also offer ways for users to respectfully end their interactions with digital personas.
Through careful and responsible development, we can create a future in which afterlife digital technologies honor our loved ones in meaningful and respectful ways.
As we navigate this brave new world, it is crucial to balance the benefits of staying connected with our loved ones with the potential risks and ethical dilemmas.
In doing so, we can ensure that the afterlife digital industry develops in a way that respects the memory of the deceased and supports the emotional well-being of the living.