Digital Afterlife: Hollywood and AI Tech

The link between Victorian portraiture and AI death tech.

Looking at AI death tech platforms in context with Victorian post-mortem photography and attaining the sitter’s essence in portraiture, we can see a link between technology, consumerism, and society’s view on death and bereavement.

Startups working in the death tech or grief tech industry have designed different approaches that enable users to communicate with the dead, via text, video, audio, or photorealist avatars. The technology represents a recent shift from photography to artificial intelligence (AI) as a tool for remembering the deceased.

Ginger Liu is the founder of Ginger Media & Entertainment, a Ph.D. Researcher in artificial intelligence and visual arts media — specifically death tech, digital afterlife, AI death and grief practices, AI photography, entertainment, security, and policy, and an author, writer, artist photographer, and filmmaker. Listen to the Podcast — The Digital Afterlife of Grief.

Ginger Liu is a writer who covers the latest developments in artificial intelligence, entertainment, and art.

Historically, portrait photography has been a medium for capturing a person’s external likeness. Essence is a term that was borrowed from portrait painting. Essence adds an extra layer of meaning to the image, something internal. In the case of photography, the photographer aims to capture something intangible that reveals their unique personality and identity. The notion of essence then provides a philosophical framework for examining whether photorealistic generative artificial intelligence personas can possess human essence and offer something that captures the essence of the subject’s experience, emotions, and moral agency in the context of AI personas.

Ginger Liu is the founder of Ginger Media & Entertainment, a Ph.D. Researcher in artificial intelligence and visual arts media — specifically death tech, digital afterlife, AI death and grief practices, AI photography, entertainment, security, and policy, and an author, writer, artist photographer, and filmmaker. Listen to the Podcast — The Digital Afterlife of Grief.

Ginger Liu is a writer who covers the latest developments in artificial intelligence, entertainment, and art.

For the last few years, I have been writing about grief and digital afterlife technology and the companies that create photorealistic digital twins, chatbots, synthetic voices, AI video legacies, and holograms. The entertainment industry has been a driver of innovation, creating digital personas of Tupak Shakur and ABBA. In only the last few weeks, Elvis, Edith Piaf, and Jimmy Stewart have been resurrected or de-aged for entertainment. Harrison Ford was de-aged by 40 years for his role as Indiana Jones in last year’s Indian Jones and the Dial of Destiny.

Ginger Liu is the founder of Ginger Media & Entertainment, a Ph.D. Researcher in artificial intelligence and visual arts media — specifically death tech, digital afterlife, AI death and grief practices, AI photography, entertainment, security, and policy, and an author, writer, artist photographer, and filmmaker. Listen to the Podcast — The Digital Afterlife of Grief.

Rise of the Griefbot

Grief tech is changing the way we communicate with our deceased loved ones and how we cope with their passing. Our digital footprint, such as texts, photos, videos, emails, and social media accounts keeps us connected to the people close to us and worldwide. AI voice cloning creates digital replicas of a human voice by analyzing and mimicking speech patterns such as accent, tone, and pitch.

AI industry growth exceeded $40 billion in the US in 2022 and is estimated to reach $1.3 trillion over the next decade. According to a recent report, the Chatbots for Mental Health and Therapy Market will be worth $1.71 Bn by 2031. These offer support, direction, and assistance for mental health issues, including grief. One of the major health issues is the increased frequency of mental disease. It’s estimated that 1 in 4 adults and 1 in 10 children experience mental health issues yearly.

Ginger Liu is the founder of Hollywood’s Ginger Media & Entertainment, a Ph.D. Researcher in artificial intelligence and visual arts media — specifically grief tech, digital afterlife, AI, death and mourning practices, AI and photography, biometrics, security, and policy, and an author, writer, artist photographer, and filmmaker. Listen to the Podcast — The Digital Afterlife of Grief.

Meta's New Digital Afterlife for the Dead and the Aging Challenge.

When my mother was in the final stages of dementia, I rarely took photographs or videos of her because I didn’t want to document the evidence of her living with dementia. Documenting her demise was something I struggled with as an artist-photographer who was used to taking and sharing images daily.

The thought of losing her forever made me obsessed with capturing her essence. But what is essence? Words like soul, aura, air, and core are familiar terms when describing that unique trait that a loved one has. For my mother, it was her laugh and the cheeky and mischievous look she gave. Dementia never robbed this essence from her, and one could be fooled that she wasn’t suffering from this debilitating illness at all.

Mark Zuckerberg’s Metaverse platform could change how we communicate with our deceased loved ones. Death and the digital afterlife will prove to be a lucrative venture for Zuckerberg because it is predicted that Facebook will have more dead people than alive by 2100, an incredible 4.9 billion. Providing a fee-based service that can communicate with these dead is a savvy business decision.

Mindbank Ai creates a digital twin from the information users feed into the platform with a chat interface and learning algorithms.

Research on the ethics of deathbots suggests that there are pros and cons to using AI griefbots to support the grieving process. I would add that how we deal with grief is different for everyone and depends on how the deceased died, our relationship with the deceased, and our own coping mechanisms. Generative AI tools for creatives describe the technology as a collaborative tool and this term is well suited to describe how AI bots will be used for people with mental health issues that include grief.

What if this data is found online and copied and used for something else you have no control over? It doesn’t matter for those who are dead, but it will cause a lot of heartache for the family members left behind.

Ginger Liu is the founder of Hollywood’s Ginger Media & Entertainment, a Ph.D. Researcher in artificial intelligence and visual arts media — grief tech, digital afterlife, AI, death and mourning practices, AI and photography, biometrics, security, and policy, and an author, writer, artist photographer, and filmmaker. Listen to the Podcast — The Digital Afterlife of Grief.

After more than a year of turmoil from artists protecting their work from generative AI platforms, with some going to court over copyright violations, a new open letter was signed by, no doubt, a different group of artists who use generative AI in their workflow. But it’s not all praise for the platforms because a group of well-known authors is suing Meta and OpenAI for copyright infringement. Elsewhere, big-name actors are protecting and monetizing their AI likeness, and AI-generated artwork can’t be copyrighted…yet.

Newsom Signs Executive Order to Rein in AI

Directors Tim Burton and Guillermo del Toro Against AI

US Rejects AI Copyright For First Midjourney Art Winner

AI Altered Content in Political Ads Require Discloser

Artists Defend Generative AI in Open Letter

Museum Exhibition Created by ChatGPT

Google Launches AI Digital Futures Project

Authors Sue OpenAI and Meta For Copyright Infringement

Actors Protect Their AI Likeness With Metaphysic Pro

Amazon Uses Generative AI to Write Sales Listings

Ginger Liu is the founder of Hollywood’s Ginger Media & Entertainment, a Ph.D. Researcher in artificial intelligence and visual arts media — specifically grief tech, digital afterlife, AI, death and mourning practices, AI and photography, biometrics, security, and policy, and an author, writer, artist photographer, and filmmaker. Listen to the Podcast — The Digital Afterlife of Grief.

The week in Generative AI news is heavy on copyright protection and I sense there’s more backlash on the way as industries get to grip with the true value and purpose of artificial intelligence. It’s not all angst though because AI is being used in tracking wildlife in order to prevent biodiversity depletion.

Judge Finds AI-Created-Art Isn’t Copyrightable

Open AI Tools Effective in Content Moderation

New York Times Bans Content from Training AI Models

AP Develop Guidelines for Use of AI in Newsrooms

AI Identifies Dozens of Wildlife Species

Photo Agencies Demand AI Copyright Protection in Open Letter

Universal Music Group and Youtube Collaborate for Emerging AI Initiative

How AI is Transforming Portrait Photography Studios

James Dean Stars in New Film with the Help of AI

Parity for Women in Movies Has Stalled

Ginger Liu is the founder of Hollywood’s Ginger Media & Entertainment, a Ph.D. Researcher in artificial intelligence and visual arts media — specifically grief tech, digital afterlife, AI, death and mourning practices, AI and photography, biometrics, security, and policy, and an author, writer, artist photographer, and filmmaker. Listen to the Podcast — The Digital Afterlife of Grief.

Generative AI News Headlines

Disney creates AI task force

Google disrupts publishers’ copyright

Zoom caught using customer data

Dungeons & Dragons bans AI-generated art

AI Companies Commit to New Safety Measures for Biden

PhotoGuard Developed to Protect Against AI Image Manipulation

Documentary Filmmakers Cautious About Use of AI

Itseez3D Releases Avatar SDK Deep Fake Detector

Kickstarter Projects Require Generative AI Disclosure

Latest Gartner Survey Finds Generative AI is a Risk for Businesses

Allen Ginsberg’s Poetry Recreated with Artificial Intelligence

Ginger Liu is the founder of Hollywood’s Ginger Media & Entertainment, a Ph.D. Researcher in artificial intelligence and visual arts media — specifically grief tech, digital afterlife, AI, death and mourning practices, AI and photography, biometrics, security, and policy, and an author, writer, artist photographer, and filmmaker. Listen to the Podcast — The Digital Afterlife of Grief.

The evolution of technology has shaped the way we grieve, from the early days of photography, which brought images of our loved ones into our homes, to Facebook Memorial pages that serve as spaces for remembrance. Incorporating AI into the grieving process seems like a natural progression. Adding a layer of interaction can be comforting, especially during the initial stages of loss. For those who missed a chance to say goodbye, griefbots can offer closure.

There are valid concerns about their impact on the healing process. As we continue to use this technology and form strong emotional bonds with digital personas, there is a risk of anthropomorphizing AI replicas, confusing them with real people, and developing unhealthy attachments.

As we jump into an AI-driven future, the stories, memories, and voices of the past continue to resonate within the algorithms of our digital world. Whatever technology we use, ultimately the essence of human connection and the significance of genuine memories remain central to human agency.

Ginger Liu is the founder of Hollywood’s Ginger Media & Entertainment, a Ph.D. Researcher in artificial intelligence and visual arts media — specifically grief tech, digital afterlife, AI, death and mourning practices, AI, and photography. Education, research, and policy. Entrepreneur, author, writer, artist photographer, and filmmaker. Listen to the Podcast — The Digital Afterlife of Grief.

The latest headlines in Generative AI by Ginger Liu

Big Tech Moves Towards Enhancing the Safety of AI Technology

In a significant move towards enhancing safety protocols for AI technology, big tech companies including OpenAI, Google (Alphabet), and Meta Platforms, have pledged their support to the White House AI safety bill. Tech companies have committed to adopting specific measures, such as watermarking AI-generated content, as announced by President Biden on Friday during a White House event. President Biden acknowledged the importance of these commitments and considered them to be a promising step forward in challenging and securing AI-created content. However, he also emphasized that collective efforts are needed to address the challenges and potential risks associated with AI.

Apple is conducting trials of its generative AI system called Apple GPT. Taking inspiration from other AI-based platforms such as ChatGPT and Google’s Bard, Apple has constructed its framework for developing large language models. Though the company has made significant progress in developing AI tools, it has not finalized a plan for introducing this technology to the public.

Meta is expanding its generative AI capabilities with a new tool called CM3leon or Cameleon which can recognize both text and image with seamless image-to-text and text-to-image generation. Unlike current AI systems that specialize in generating images or text, CM3leon bridges this gap by integrating both capabilities into a single platform. The convergence of image and text generation has been challenging for AI developers, which makes Meta’s new platform an exciting new development. While the release date for CM3leon to the public remains undisclosed, its potential implications are immense.

Journalism is going through a significant transformation because of AI technology like ChatGPT. Publishers like The New York Times, the Washington Post, and News Corp are in discussions with Google about the integration of AI tools to support journalists in their news article writing. These tools are designed to give prompts for generating headlines and story ideas but the emphasis is on using AI as a collaborative tool rather than a replacement of human journalists. This comes after the recent announcement of a partnership between the Associated Press and OpenAI. Despite the big news agencies being on board with AI development, many news outlets remain cautious. There are legitimate concerns about the publishing of incorrect information and the challenge of distinguishing between content created by humans and AI.

Open AI CEO Sam Altman has introduced a new cryptocurrency venture called Worldcoin, designed as a payout from its AI project, World ID. The digital passport verifies the authenticity of individuals as real humans and not AI bots. To get your hands on a World ID, you need to participate in an in-person iris scan using Worldcoin’s specialized device called the Orb. The iris scan is a silver ball the size of a bowling ball which confirms a person’s human identity and then generates their unique World ID. Worldcoin was developed by San Francisco and Berlin company, Tools for Humanity. During its beta phase, the project has grown to 2 million individual users. After its official launch, Worldcoin aims to expand to 35 cities across 20 countries. As an added incentive, users who sign up in select countries will be rewarded with Worldcoin’s proprietary cryptocurrency token, WLD.

Ginger Liu is the founder of Hollywood’s Ginger Media & Entertainment, a Ph.D. Researcher in artificial intelligence and visual arts media — specifically grief tech, digital afterlife, AI, death and mourning practices, AI and photography, biometrics, security, and policy, and an author, writer, artist photographer, and filmmaker. Listen to the Podcast — The Digital Afterlife of Grief.