Digital afterlife – Could AI change how we grieve and remember the dead? | DW Documentary
Communicating with deceased relatives is now possible thanks to virtual reality. Companies around the world are working with artificial intelligence to allow people to live on after their death. Could grieving become a thing of the past?
Justin Harrison, founder of the app “You, Only Virtual”, enables the bereaved to communicate with virtual clones of their deceased loved ones – via text message or even a phone call. For J. R. Adams, whose mother was like a best friend to him, the virtual exchange means she continues to be part of his life.
Jason and Melissa Gowin are both seriously ill. They have each created a virtual copy of themselves so that their children can actively cherish their memories after their death.
At the heart of the so-called “digital afterlife industry” is the vision of precisely preserving a someone’s memories and stories so that they do not die with them. But not everyone welcomes the development. Sociologist Holly Prigerson says technology can provide temporary support and comfort, but it cannot be a substitute for actually saying goodbye and coming to terms with the loss.
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Video “Digital afterlife – Could AI change how we grieve and remember the dead? | DW Documentary” was uploaded on 04/01/2025 by DW Documentary Youtube channel.
Nope
Interesting how I was thinking of this idea today and I just came about this video without even looking for it. Weird! Lol
I hate to bear this bad news but this could be MORE hurtful to the grieving loved one if some drastic and/or sudden event took away their digital loved one.
What if the technology fails… What if the host company closes…. What if someone kidnaps your digital Mama (with the click of a button) and holds her for ransom on the dark web??
SO many awful things could happen.
And the poor soul who came to rely on the digital person, who never finished grieving properly, is left with this. 😔
It would hurt all over again, probably even more. 💔💔💔💔
With things like this becomes it clear that we inch closer to make our dystopian nightmares reality every day.
LOVE is what keeps us alive ❤
There's a reason why we say we should let the dead rest in peace.
Thank you for making this documentary about this important and interesting subject. I hope it fosters debate and introspection. Great job! 👍
Twisted
👍
Having Ai version of ourselves will be inevitable. In the not so distant future, having AI companions, helpers, assistants, etc will be all to common. However, there is a risk for the grieving to setup an unhealthy relationship with AI. People need to go through grief counselling, and for those that are experiencing treatment resistant depression, trauma or PTSD more serious intervention should be considered (ie. psychedleic therapy etc).
I think this is a beautiful way for parents (for example) to leave a way to interact with them after they've passed on. But I think it's important to not rely on this long-term. You could always look back on it after you've largely moved on
Death is part of life leave it alone
May this beautiful family reach their goals for their children.
[Maybe because I’m a senior, I get bad vibes with the whole experimenting with virtual intelligence and artificial intelligence. The key word is “artificial”. I saw a video, years ago where a mother dying, made many videos for her young daughter. I hope visual, voice and thoughts from the human perspective never disappears. ]
This is not healthy..
Or Maybe just stop this alcoholic invention and realise something real instead?
👍
Accepting someones gone is the griff…
I think it's healthy that we move on and forget.
Wasn't there an Amazon streaming show about this concept? It's called Upload