As a result, the phenomenon of digital resurrection has quickly become a haunting yet controversial intersection of technology, grief, and memory. This digitalization process further produces images, avatars, and bots of the deceased. This itinerario uses photographs, videos, recorded voice messages, and other digital graphic materials. Society continues to reckon with mortality in the age of digital. Yet this great struggle dismisses, derides, or easily forgets meaningful ethical emotional questions that transgress nostalgia.
The most notable example of this movement might be “Abba Voyage.” This revolutionary exhibit includes digital representations of the legendary Swedish super pop group. The show has reportedly brought in about £1.6 million per week in revenue, proving the commercial potential of these digital avatars. The four members of ABBA aren’t merely holograms—they’re high definition, motion capture based avatars. Clad in high couture by Dolce & Gabbana, they serve to heighten the audience’s visual experience.
London-based cyberpsychologist Elaine Kasket explains that for many people, it can be comforting to engage with these digital reproductions. She states, “It’s vastly more technologically possible now because of large language models such as ChatGPT being easily available to the general public and very straightforward to use.” These innovations have allowed us to have incredibly realistic conversations through a dead person’s digital legacy. This creative touch gives the impression that the loved one is still present with us.
In recent years, the rise of digital resurrection has taken some widely publicized high-profile applications. How Ozzy Osbourne’s digital clone reunited him with late legends. Now, he can join icons like Michael Jackson, Tina Turner, and Bob Marley in a beautiful, pulsing virtual world. This new evolution is a testament to the technology’s incredible potential. Yet at the same time, it raises important ethical questions around resurrecting people who would have never been able to consent to the use of their digital likeness. Kasket highlights this concern: “A person who’s dead has no opportunity to consent, no right of reply and no control.”
The nascent market for digital resurrection of course isn’t limited to celebrity avatars. It’s expanded beyond that into more individual, personal applications. Here’s what a recent poll conducted by Theos and YouGov revealed that was particularly interesting. A full 14% of survey respondents reported that they would be more comfortable by interacting with an AI representation of a deceased family member. As of 2022, the digital reincarnation market in China was valued at 12 billion yuan (£1.2 billion). By 2025, it’s expected to grow fourfold, with some services promising to generate avatars for as little as 20 yuan (£2.20).
As the technology has blossomed, it has created its own ethical issue with the use of grief as a profit-making tool. Philosopher Michael Cholbi, who specializes in the ethics of death and dying, offers a critical caution. While people may look to these digital connections for comfort, he cautions that we might be developing services that pathologize grief. He states, “Human beings have been trying to relate to the dead ever since there were humans… Now the question is: does AI have anything to add?”
Cholbi cautions that this kind of “digital necromancy” can easily mislead grieving people. They may believe they’re communicating with a human and not something artificial. Nathan Mladin, the author of “AI and the Afterlife,” cautions that putting our trust in these bots will create a dangerous dependency. He fears that this could derail true acceptance and healing rather than facilitate it. He articulates the risk involved: “Digital necromancy is a deceptive experience. You think you’re talking to a person when you’re actually talking to a machine.”
The ethical dilemmas of digital resurrection do not end at the individual level. They lead to larger societal concerns. Louise Richardson points out that while deathbots may offer comfort, they can disrupt the grieving process by providing an ongoing interaction that prevents individuals from fully recognizing and accommodating their loss. “They can get in the way of recognizing and accommodating what has been lost,” she notes.
Society is starting to move up the learning curve on these sophisticated interrelationships. Organizations such as the UK’s National Holocaust Centre and Museum have begun projects to keep alive the voices and images of Holocaust survivors through interactive avatars. These projects seek to pay tribute to memory, while figuring out a whole new moral maze that digital resurrection brings.