Griefbots, artificial intelligence chatbots that mimic deceased loved ones, are increasingly in popularity. Researcher Katarzyna Nowaczyk-Basińska reflects on what death, grief and immortality look like in the digital age. She shares insights from a project that she is leading as a AI2050 Early Career Fellow: Imaginaries of Immortality in the Age of AI: An Intercultural Analysis. Plus, we discuss the ethical and privacy concerns surrounding how the data of the deceased are used and what consumers should be on the lookout for if they want to use griefbots. 

Recommended reading:

You can read a recent paper on griefbots co-authored by Nowaczyk-Basińska:

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13347-024-00744-w

And you can keep up with her research:

https://katarzynanowaczykbasinska.pl/en/dr-katarzyna-nowaczyk-basinska/

Read our coverage of the tricky ethical debates around AI:

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-god-chatbots-changing-religious-inquiry/ 

E-mail us at [email protected] if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover!

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Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Naeem Amarsy and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman. Our show is edited by Alex Sugiura with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith.

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