Learn everything from a bot-related way to die in the future to thoughts around having a digital surrogate to a deceased loved one.
In the book Love Story, love meant never having to say you’re sorry. Now, in the age of griefbots, death mean you never have to say goodbye. Griefbots are the creation of digital characters that imitate the way people who have died spoke and wrote. While these bots and AI avatars may be beneficial to the grieving process, there’s also a risk that they could keep us clinging to the past, spending our time with the deceased rather than the living, and find ourselves unable to move forward and grow.
In this Episode:
- 09:22 – How are People Going to Die in the Future? (segment 1): Malfunctioning Sexbot
- 11:48 – Recipe of the Week: Alabama Slammer
- 13:17 – Digital Remedy to Grief, Pros and Cons
- 31:48 – Phone Calls to Heaven: A Nurse contemplates life’s fragility and preciousness
- 41:14 – Outro
Related Content:
- Grief: All E1D Episodes and Blogs
- S2E9: Communication with a Loved One After their Death
- S4E49: How to Preserve a Life through Digital Memorials
- S4E52: Are You Prepared to Die? Get Ideas for Your Advance Care Planning
Phone Calls To Heaven
Charlie read an essay from the American Journal of Nursing that was written by Hannah Hester, a registered nurse working at a hospital in Livonia, Michigan. She contemplates life’s fragility and preciousness. It is titled “Phone Calls to Heaven.”
Recipe of the Week: Alabama Slammer
Head over to Southern Living to learn how to make this boozy, fruity iced tea that was featured in Cocktail with Tom Cruise.
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References:
- Hester, H. (2024). “Phone Calls to Heaven.” AJN The American Journal of Nursing 124(7): 64. A nurse contemplates life’s fragility and preciousness.
- Voinea, C. (2024). On Grief and Griefbots. Think, 23(67):47-51. doi:10.1017/S1477175623000490
- ‘It was as if my father were actually texting me’: grief in the age of AI | Artificial intelligence (AI) | The Guardian
- Grief Tech Uses AI to Give You (and Your Loved Ones) Digital Immortality (singularityhub.com)
- Can AI help with grief? “Grief tech” is Silicon Valley’s solution to mourning – Vox
- The rise of ‘grief tech’: AI is being used to bring the people you love back from the dead | Euronews
- Jiménez-Alonso, B. and I. Bresco de Luna (2022). “Griefbots. A New Way of Communicating With The Dead?” Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science 57: 1-16.
Resources:
- DigitalandStone: https://www.digitalandstone.com/ 310-943-7388. hello@digitalandstone.com
- HereAfter AI — Interactive Memory App — Try Free
- AI companion: Replika
- StoryFile – Conversational Video AI SaaS Technology for Education and Business Solutions – StoryFile
- He couldn’t get over his fiancee’s death. So he brought her back as an A.I. chatbot (sfchronicle.com)
- Seance AI – Commune with lost friends and family via AI
- QR Codes for the Dead: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/05/qr-codes-for-the-dead/370901/
- Honoring Legacies: Exploring the Significance of Digital Memorial: https://www.pillarsupport.com/digital-memorial/
- Creating Digital Memorials: Thoughtful Remembrance in the Age of Technology: https://ashestoashesinc.com/creating-digital-memorials-thoughtful-remembrance-in-the-age-of-technology/
- Digital Memorial Websites:
https://blog.feedspot.com/palliative_care_podcasts/
Everyone Dies: and yes, it is normal!
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Mourning Jewelry
We offer a way to memorialize your loved one or treasured pet with a piece of handmade jewelry. When people comment on it and the wearer can say for example “I received this when my mother died” which opens the conversation about this loss. All our jewelry is made with semi-precious stones and beads, vintage beads, and pearls. You can choose between earrings or bracelets and the color family. Learn More
