DIGITAL AFTERLIVES: ETHICAL CHALLENGES OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN DEATH, MEMORY, AND MOURNING

Abstract

The rapid expansion of artificial intelligence technologies has begun to reshape how societies experience death, remembrance, and mourning. Digital platforms increasingly enable the reconstruction of personal identities through data traces, images, and algorithmic simulations, creating new forms of what scholars describe as the “digital afterlife.” This article explores the ethical implications of artificial intelligence in mediating memories of the deceased and managing digital remains. Drawing on insights from thanatology, digital anthropology, and AI ethics, the paper examines how technological interventions influence the emotional practices of mourning and the practical issues surrounding digital data left behind after death. Using two ethnographic vignettes, one illustrating the creation of an AI-generated image of a deceased family member participating symbolically in a wedding ritual, and another highlighting institutional challenges related to inaccessible digital data after the sudden death of a colleague, the article demonstrates how AI technologies operate simultaneously as tools of emotional resilience and sources of new ethical dilemmas. These cases reveal the emergence of AI-mediated memory practices and the growing complexity of digital legacies. The paper argues that while artificial intelligence may help reconstruct symbolic presence and support grieving individuals, it also raises important concerns regarding consent, ownership of digital identity, emotional dependency, and the dignity of the deceased. By examining these developments, the article proposes an ethical framework to guide the use of AI in contexts of death, memory, and mourning in increasingly digitised societies.