The Grief Tech project in the ‘Culture & The Human Person’ colloquy examines new AI tools—“ghostbots”—that can analyze data from a specific deceased person, like text messages, emails, and videos, to create an interactive digital companion that simulates them.
The project hosted a 2-day international conference at Universidade Católica Portuguesa in Lisbon, Portugal (October 10, 11, 2025), and is preparing an edited volume of research. Throughout the conference, participants were invited to consider the central question: “Can AI avatars of the deceased genuinely assist us in coping with grief, or do they risk creating deeper ethical and relational harms?”
One of the most striking moments of the conference featured the presentation of a real case in which an AI ghostbot was used in a homicide trial to simulate the victim’s voice during the sentencing phase. The presiding judge, visibly moved, stated: “I love that AI, thank you for that […] I heard the forgiveness. I feel that was genuine.” This example provoked a strong reaction from the audience, raising profound questions about the emotional and ethical legitimacy of allowing an artificial system to exert direct influence over judicial decision-making and the shaping of collective memory.
In a keynote address, Professor Charles Ess (University of Oslo) challenged the audience to consider the implications of “digital immortality” for human personhood, identity, and the experience of loss in a world where the distinction between the living and the dead becomes increasingly blurred.
Learn more about the conference here.
Project Directors: Joseph Davis and William Hasselberger