AI is now making digital resurrection of historical figures and loved ones possible. In this post, we examine the potential benefits for education and emotional connection, including how it can be used to preserve family memories. However, this technology comes with serious risks of misuse. Artificial intelligence’s ability to blur the line between what’s real and what’s fake requires our thoughtful consideration to ensure these powerful resurrection tools enhance our humanity rather than undermine it.

Listen to: Digital Afterlives: How AI is Changing Our Relationship with Death

What really caught my attention this week was how the BBC resurrected Agatha Christie as their spokesperson for a writing course that focuses on her technique and works on its BBC Maestro classes platform. With the permission of her estate, BBC Studios was able to resurrect her by combining footage of a professional actress, existing recordings, her writings and old photographs to train the AI to recreate both her voice and likeness. How the video was created can be watched here.

In another use case, which is both a sad and a powerful example of how AI is resurrecting the deceased to talk to us, AI was used by the family of Christopher Pelkey, the victim of a tragic road rage incident, to make a victim’s statement. Trained through images, videos and voice likeness of the victim, AI enabled to Mr. Pelkey to tell the courtroom in his own words about his life and to present a victim’s impact statement to the court during his killer’s sentencing hearing. This was “the first time in Arizona judicial history—and possibly nationwide—that AI has been used to create a deceased victim’s own impact statement.” You can read the full story and watch the video here.

AI’s Digital Afterlives: Promise and Peril

These examples represent just the beginning of what’s possible when AI allows us to create digital versions of those who are no longer with us. While these AI technologies can only mimic their subjects based on training data from videos, audio clips, written content and images, they’re already powerful enough to create convincing simulations. Although AI can capture the tone of voice, facial likeness and mannerisms of the deceased, for now it lacks the fundamental elements of consciousness, such as subjective experience and self-awareness. However, in the future, this could change, as AI technology continues to get smarter and smarter.

I believe we’ll be seeing many more use cases demonstrating how AI can bring back to life a historical figure, performer, or even a loved one. Imagine grandchildren having conversations with the grandparents they never met, or students learning history directly from key figures through AI simulation. But I’m also fearful of someone using this technology to bring back figures who promote hate and division. We’re already seeing the growing use of AI synthetic avatars being used to complement our real-world version of ourselves for personalized marketing videos for social media, brand content and training. There’s also the growing fear of deepfake technology, which is getting harder and harder to detect as fake.

The Benefits of AI Digital Preservation

Back in 2020, I remember watching a 60 Minutes segment about an exhibit at the Holocaust Museum in Skokie, Illinois. There, more than 20 Holocaust survivors were filmed as interactive AI holograms and recorded answering close to 2,000 questions. Through the use of AI and automatic speech recognition, no matter what question was asked by a visitor, the video interview with the Holocaust survivor felt just as real and emotional as if they were sitting right there in front of you. This early version of digital resurrection technology demonstrated how powerful these experiences could be.

Educational Applications of AI Resurrection Technology

Although that 60 Minutes segment was filmed only five years ago, it shows how far AI resurrection technology has come and its valuable applications. Whether it’s having historical figures like Agatha Christie speak to you about her writing techniques through a digital afterlife simulation, or enabling a deceased victim to address the court and the accused directly to tell them about who they were in their own words, the impact is beyond powerful.

For students and educators wondering how AI can transform learning experiences, the possibilities are remarkable. There are tremendous educational applications of virtual resurrection that would engage students and possibly allow them to fully understand historical events by asking questions directly. Imagine President Franklin Delano Roosevelt explaining to an economics class about the “New Deal,” or having Picasso describe to an art class what inspired his cubist painting style. These interactive AI experiences could transform how we learn about history, art and science by creating posthumous digital versions of important historical figures.

Preserving Family Memories Through Digital Afterlives

What I also thought about—and would personally be open to doing—is preserving our digital selves for future generations through AI memory preservation. Instead of their parents simply telling them about their grandparent who is no longer living, the child could easily watch a video of that person sharing their life story as an interactive AI avatar.

For those wondering how AI can preserve memories of loved ones who have passed away, today’s AI advancements might even enable family members to ask questions and receive responses based on that person’s recorded thoughts and experiences. The multi-generational impact of these AI resurrection tools would be incredible, essentially preserving family stories forever and creating connections across generations that were never before possible through digital afterlife technology.

These AI-enabled digital preservation techniques are already evolving rapidly, with each advancement making the experience more realistic and meaningful for users seeking to connect with historical figures or to preserve their own legacy.

Ethical Considerations with Digital Immortality and AI Resurrection

Here’s an interesting ethical question: “Should digital selves and persons be curated, and, if so, by whom? In life, we govern ourselves. In death, data about our activities and thoughts will be archived and ranked based not on our personal judgment, but by whatever priorities are set by digital developers.” This question cuts to the heart of ethical AI concerns regarding digital afterlives.

Consent and Control of Digital Resurrection

Who should curate our personal data for AI afterlife creation? I certainly wouldn’t want some third party scraping the web for things about me that I may or may not want used in a posthumous AI simulation. The question of digital consent becomes central when creating AI versions of deceased individuals.

Another concern with AI afterlife technology is data accuracy, e.g., was the information found really about me or someone else with a similar name or background? AI systems creating digital replicas might inadvertently incorporate incorrect information, creating an inaccurate portrayal that lives on indefinitely.

Family Rights vs. Personal Autonomy in Digital Afterlives

Even if my children were to create an AI version of me after I’m gone, a critical question remains: did I give them my digital consent for this? Without clear legal frameworks for a deceased person’s AI representation, families might create digital versions of loved ones that conflict with what that person would have wanted. This means that the ethics of digital immortality can get extremely complex when relying on others to ensure that your values and personal data are accurately captured in an AI resurrection.

Navigating the Future of Digital Afterlives

As AI technology continues to advance at a breathtaking pace, the ability to create convincing digital versions of those who’ve passed away presents both extraordinary opportunities and serious ethical challenges. From educational applications that could transform how we understand history to preserving family memories across generations, these AI resurrection tools have the potential to enhance our lives in meaningful ways.

At the same time, we need to be thoughtful about questions of consent, accuracy and privacy, and the potential for misuse. If we are to go down this path, we need to define our personal values about this, i.e., what should be shared and what shouldn’t, and how we want to be remembered in our digital afterlives.

I do believe that sooner rather than later, we’ll be hearing about more companies and more people expressing interest in preserving their digital selves for future generations. As this technology becomes more accessible, the question won’t be if we can create these digital afterlives, but how we choose to use them responsibly.

As always, thank you for reading or listening. Questions? Feel free to email me here.

Header image source: BBC Studios