Ghosts in the machine

A new way to cope with grief: Get AI to turn a dead person into an avatar. Can our digital footprint really comfort the ones we left behind?

- Tanisha Saxena

In the quiet solitude of a late evening, a mother sits at her computer, typing messages to her dead daughter. But here's a twist: The dead daughter is texting back too. It's not magic. The mother is using an AI-powered chatbot that has scanned through the daughter's archives of texts, comments and audio clips, and has learnt to respond just like her - down to the speech patterns and catchphrases. Is she real? No. But she's a dead ringer, just similar enough to help Mum grieve.

It didn't take us long to get comfortable with AI. Just last year, we were excited to ask machines to re-imagine Game of Thrones characters in Indian avatars. This year, we're using the Kling AI app to insert our current selves into our childhood photos and hug our younger selves. For those mourning the loss of a loved one, AI has been so busy, there's already a word for the business: Grief Tech. And as with all AI, some folks have jumped right in, while the rest are still figuring out if it's a good idea.

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For as long as people have been dying, the living have sought ways to maintain a connection with the ones they've lost. We etched them on rock art. We painted flattering portraits. We tried seances. We kept their social media accounts active. AI, then, is merely another tool to process grief. It generates digital avatars, chatbots known as "thanobots," even virtual-reality experiences, so we can interact with loved ones again.