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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