Grieving in the Digital Age: When AI Makes the Dead “Come Alive”

In an article published in Nature on September 15, 2025, science journalist Tammy Worth describes the rise of “griefbots,” conversational agents capable of imitating the voice, writing style, and even personality of deceased individuals based on their digital traces. There are now more than half a dozen platforms offering this ready-to-use service. Developers claim that millions of people use them to send text messages, make phone calls, or otherwise interact with digital reconstructions of the deceased. This technological innovation raises profound ethical and psychological questions.

For some people, griefbots may provide a comforting space. Talking with a digital version of a deceased parent can bring temporary relief, evoke good memories, or even allow future generations to “know” the person who has passed away. Griefbots could even serve as a therapeutic tool, if used within a framework guided by professionals. But the risks remain. Psychologically, could becoming attached to a griefbot prevent someone from fully experiencing the grieving process, or even lead to complicated grief? Ethically, the question of consent is problematic: did the deceased really want their digital data to be used in this way? And what happens to this data? Distorted, idealized, or biased versions may circulate, opening the door to manipulation, commercial use, or even fraud. The Nature article reports the testimony of a woman who interacted with a digital version of her father, who had died when she was a teenager. The experience, far from comforting her, was painful: the illusion of a presence without ever truly being him.

This technological revolution requires collective reflection. Should a form of “posthumous digital consent” be established, allowing everyone to decide on the reuse of their data after death? But how can we guarantee respect for such posthumous digital consent when we already struggle to ensure digital consent during our lifetime? These are questions that will require collaboration across various areas of expertise in the years to come.