Ghostbots: Is Resurrection Of The Dead Through AI A Healthy Or Haunting Experience? Know What Research Suggests
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How would you feel if you could bring your deceased loved ones back from the dead? Well, not through seances, mediums, or Ouija boards, but with the help of technology! Resurrection of the dead is now possible through artificial intelligence (AI). The AI or digital versions of deceased people are known by different names such as ghostbots, deathbots, griefbots, generative ghosts, AI ghosts, or AI afterlives. There are a few instances of people having leveraged this technology to mourn their loss.
While it is tempting for one to be able to connect with their deceased loved ones through generative ghosts, the experience of AI afterlives may not always be rosy, but a haunting one, research suggests.
Technologies similar to ghostbots referenced in pop culture, and a real-life example
Do you remember the famous scene from Avengers: Endgame in which Pepper Potts and her daughter Morgan Stark watch an AI recording of Tony Stark (Iron Man) playing from the helmet of the superhero’s final Iron Man suit, Mark LXXXV? Tony had recorded that message for his wife and daughter before dying as a martyr in the battle against Thanos. That was a pre-recorded message, and not a ghostbot, but generative ghosts function in a similar manner.
On Kim Kardashian’s 40th birthday, her then husband Ye (Kanye West) gifted her a hologram of her deceased father, Robert Kardashian. Generative ghosts are quite similar to holograms too.
In 2023, Taiwanese entertainer Tino Bao posted on Meta (Facebook) a video of his daughter Bao Rong, who had passed away two years prior, at 22 years of age, due to a rare blood disease. Her father used AI to create a video in which her digital version was seen dancing. Not only could her digital avatar dance, but also sing and interact with people in real time.
How ghostbots may act as ‘affection as a service’
The reason ghostbots are able to interact with people, similar to chatbots like ChatGPT, is that these AI ghosts are created using photographs, emails, videos, and other personal information of the deceased person. In other words, an interactive virtual representation is created using deep fake technology.
These deathbots are digital constructs that emulate the conversational patterns, demeanour, and knowledge of deceased individuals.
How ghostbots may create a haunting experience for the bereaved
The use of ghostbots by the bereaved to interact with the deceased is not a healthy coping mechanism, and can turn out to be an eerie experience for the family members of the deceased individual, according to several studies on AI ghosts.
Similar to chatbots, ghostbots can be misleading. This is because chatbots often provide misinformation, and ghostbots may be no different. For instance, a ghostbot may falsely tell a family member, say, their father, that they did not love him when they were alive, leading to hurt and confusion.
This ‘affection as a service’ may also be vile, and encourage someone to commit a heinous crime like murder. Such stories have been portrayed only in horror movies, but there is no guarantee that similar incidents will never occur in real life.
Most importantly, ghostbots may become an addiction for certain people, because of which their natural grieving process will be disrupted, severely impacting their mental health.
According to a 2024 study published in the journal Computer Law and Security Review, ghostbots play a major role in changing how mourning is experienced, altering the relationship between the bereaved and the departed.
A January 2024 study published in the journal Ethics and Information Technology said that users may develop psychological and emotional dependencies towards deathbots, and problematic dependence can be prevented through temporary use.
According to the study, deathbots are unlikely to provide substantial comfort as they lack the capacity to bear emotional burdens, falling short of meeting idealistic expectations.
The authors noted that they aim to mitigate the risk of emotional dependency, and emphasised the importance of respecting the natural grieving process. They suggested that deathbots should only be temporarily used as a novel means of mourning, rather than as a method to alleviate grief, or as a way of communication with the deceased.
Terming these digital footprints of the deceased as griefbots, an April 2022 study published in the journal Integrative Psychological & Behavioral Science said that while these generative ghosts allow two-way communication between mourners and the digital versions of the dead, certain ethical issues are associated with them.
Griefbots, as a profit-oriented afterlife industry, may raise ethical concerns for both mourners and the deceased.
Legal aspects are also involved because of the commodification of identity and relationships through ghostbots.
Since ghostbots capture the contextual relationships of the deceased, the advent of these AI ghosts transcends established commodification boundaries, the authors noted in the study published in Computer Law and Security Review.
In today’s increasingly digital society, it is important to take into consideration ethical and legal issues associated with AI afterlives, and also the trauma these generative ghosts may induce in the minds of the bereaved. Most studies suggest that ghostbots are more of a hindrance to the grieving process, rather than a healthy coping mechanism.
Researchers believe that instead of relying on deathbots to seek comfort, the bereaved must remember the deceased individuals in meaningful ways, and honour them through rituals or traditions, because that is the healthiest way of grieving.
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