Digital life after death
In keeping with the Supreme Court's opinion that the right to die with dignity is a fundamental right, attention to quality of death is critical. In good death, the patient's desires are taken into account for treatment preferences, quality of life and death, and maintenance of dignity.
Today, death is the cessation of life. But for the alpha generation, a perpetual digital life may be an option after conventional life ceases.
Virtual avatar
Griefbots are AI systems simulating personalities, speech patterns, and behaviours of deceased individuals. The virtual humanoid avatar is trained on text messages, emails, social media posts, voice recordings, and videos. The more the data supplied, the more realistic is the avatar. Users see, hear, and chat with a digital version of their loved ones. Conversational AI utilises image synthesis and voice cloning to create digital twins that respond in real-time with natural language and emotional nuances. Platforms such as Project December, HereAfter AI, and StoryFile offer griefbot experiences.
Griefbots are marketed as tools to comfort the bereaved. People cannot accept the death of their loved ones. They wish to continually interact with a lifelike digital avatar. Prolonged use could, however, hinder emotional healing, creating unhealthy dependencies. Griefbots raise questions about preserving the dignity of the dead. Misrepresentation and absence of consent before death are concerns. Adherence to strict privacy standards is difficult, as is determining liability, responsibility, and accountability.
Digital life after death is called digital afterlife, digital immortality, virtual immortality — a permanent online recreation of an individual's presence after physical death. Storing or cloning a person's personality, memories, and consciousness on a digital platform (computer, humanoid, or cyberspace) is possible today.
Avatars replicating the original person allows an 'eternal life' in virtual environments.
Values, beliefs, and cultural backgrounds are integral to incorporate this diversity effectively. Emotional and psychological impact of AI-based decision-making on patients and families is a concern. Rapid commercialisation of griefbots is outpacing responsible deployment, research and regulation. Griefbots can blur line between reality and illusion, disrupting the natural process of accepting loss and moving forward.
'Re;memory' is an AI-powered memorial service developed by DeepBrain AI enabling the living to interact with highly realistic digital avatars of their deceased loved ones. Advanced AI technologies recreate likeness, voice and expressions, allowing bereaved families to 'meet' and converse with the deceased in a virtual setting. DeepBrain AI's proprietary technology generates a lifelike digital avatar. The resulting avatar interacts through video, allowing two-way conversations. The experience is similar to a virtual reunion. Users share memories. 'Re;memory' is used in memorial services, family gatherings, weddings and birthdays enabling 'live' inclusion of the departed. Individuals cope with grief by reconnecting with lost loved ones, address unresolved emotions, and preserve cherished memories. The service is said to offer comfort, facilitate emotional healing, and maintain ongoing connections perpetually.
Ethical issues
Traditionally, Indian culture advocates detachment. We have our own methods of paying homage with dignity and respect, to the departed. Will our children use the new ways to remember and connect with us, after we have gone. Do we surrender our humanity for an artificial intimacy, divorced from concrete reality? Where do we draw the line between real and virtual, authentic and counterfeit? Globally accepted principles of protecting dignity of the deceased and respecting the dead, may have to be rewritten. Generative AI is reducing our deceased loved ones to digital instruments for maintaining relationship. With their data at our disposal, we distil their human 'essence' and contain it in eternal ghostbots that respond to us 24/7.
Grief tech companies monetise the dead as a service to help grieving individuals.
The departed are resurrected to comfort the living using AI.
Commercialization of griefbots raises concerns about exploitation. Funeral homes, memorial parks, and insurance providers act as agents tapping grieving emotionally vulnerable individuals.
Do I want a digital reincarnation of myself so that subsequent generations can interact with me? When Emerson remarked 'To live in hearts we leave behind, is not to die' did he foresee ghostbots ?
drkganapathy@gmail.com
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