‘I felt I was talking to him’: are AI personas of the dead a blessing or a curse?

The need to communicate with others is intrinsic to the human soul, as is the need to maintain some kind of connection with loved ones who are no longer on this earth. To protect this fragile thread that connects life with death, people have often turned to religion or esotericism, to any kind of higher power that might offer the possibility of transcending the boundaries of existence. Nowadays, a further alternative seems to have been added: grieftech, the technology of mourning.

Artificial intelligence has reached the pinnacle of success, in part, due to its ability to 'reason' ostensibly like a human being, providing answers aimed at constructing a discourse between two interlocutors. It is not unusual, therefore, that within a short time it has reached the point of directly impersonating different subjects.

There are several companies whose products are able to take the form of the personality of loved ones who have left us, giving the bereaved the opportunity to communicate with them once again. However, leaving such a delicate interaction in the hands of a technology like AI may not be a particularly wise move.