A note from the Project Director: In my own research, I attempt to shed light on how the daily use of humanlike AI systems as advisors, co-workers, companions, and partners will reshape people’s lives, and what this means for human wellbeing, community, and democracy. One likely effect of the spread of humanlike generative AI personas in society (especially when this technology is integrated with related technologies, like virtual and augmented reality) is that people will have a harder time distinguishing the real from the virtual, or the concrete, shared world from engaging virtual experiences and digital fantasies. In forthcoming research co-authored with Micah Lott of Boston College, titled “With Friends Like These: On Love and Friendship with AI,” I argue that AI companions meant for friendship and love, in particular, present substantial ethical risks to the integrity of the interpersonal relationships that underpin society. AI companions are designed to be used by solitary individual users and may drive people further apart from each other, in favor of spending time with easier and more convenient simulated relationships. Turning to digital simulacra of people for social support invites us to take up a more individualistic—even narcissistic—view of the meaning and value of social ties of friendship and love, a view where a friend or lover is akin to a tool or slave, a purchasable commodity, that exists to make you feel better and meet your needs without demanding anything of you. The growing industry of AI assistants and companions may present variety of specific and limited benefits for society. But AI apps should not be seen as substitutes for deep connections with people. Or so I argue.

Either way, the emergence of AI systems that are capable of realistically impersonating people in social life will transform a variety of daily activities. All of us—researchers, policy makers, engineers, parents, and citizens—should take note.

Humans have long used artifacts and new technologies as tools of remembrance and ways of mourning and relating to the dead, from statues and silhouettes to photographs and sound recordings. Against the background of a cultural crisis of mourning, a new industry is leveraging generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) to memorialize the dead and address grief. So-called “ghostbots” are postmortem avatars trained on data from a specific deceased person, like text messages, emails, and videos, to create an interactive digital companion that simulates them. Proponents claim that such AI might better address grief than traditional practices or even allow for the continued existence of the dead. Ghostbots have already been used in US courtrooms, church ceremonies, and public memorials, as well as by many bereaved individuals.

“Digital Afterlives: AI, Memory, and Mourning” is an international and interdisciplinary research collaboration between the Digital Ethics Laboratory of Universidade Católica Portuguesa, the IBM Tech Ethics Lab of Notre Dame University, and the IASC at the University of Virginia. It examines the deep cultural factors behind the rise of AI ghostbots and the ethical and religious concerns raised by the technology. The project includes original interviews of grief counselors to analyze the character of contemporary mourning and the attractions and risks of AI-mediated remembrance and grieving. At a fundamental level, the project explores the place of remembrance, mourning, and continuing bonds with the dead in a flourishing human life and asks what role AI should play in these dimensions of our lives.

Recent Updates

February 2026

Project Director Joe Davis was interviewed for an article titled, “Death isn’t the end: Meta patented an AI that lets you keep posting from beyond the grave,” published by Business Insider. Davis speaks on the impact that tools like a Meta bot could have on how humans experience grief.

October 2025

The project hosted a 2-day international conference at Universidade Católica Portuguesa in Lisbon, Portugal 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.