Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
Editorials & Other Articles
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsShould we be talking to the dead?
https://qz.com/896207/death-technology-will-allow-grieving-people-to-bring-back-their-loved-ones-from-the-dead-digitally/Imagine you have a close friend you frequently communicate with via text. One day, they suddenly die. You reel, you cry, you attend their funeral. Then you decide to pick up your phone and send them a message, just like old times.
I miss you, you type. A little response bubble appears at the bottom of the screen. I miss you too, comes the reply. You keep texting back and forth. Its just like they never left.
The possibility of digitally interacting with someone from beyond the grave is no longer the stuff of science fiction. The technology to create convincing digital surrogates of the dead is here, and its rapidly evolving, with researchers predicting its mainstream viability within a decade. But what about the ethics of bereavementand the privacy of the deceased? Speaking with a loved one evokes a powerful emotional response. The ability to do so in the wake of their death will inevitably affect the human process of grieving in ways were only beginning to explore.
In the past year, neuroscientists and philosophers have been speculating about the potential of, lets say, building a digital duplicate of your grandmother. This copy could exist in a kind of virtual Elysium, able to Skype in to Thanksgiving dinners long after her death. But Hossein Rahnama of Ryerson University and the MIT Media Lab is working on something more immediately realizable than mental duplicates: chatbots crafted from personal data.
I miss you, you type. A little response bubble appears at the bottom of the screen. I miss you too, comes the reply. You keep texting back and forth. Its just like they never left.
The possibility of digitally interacting with someone from beyond the grave is no longer the stuff of science fiction. The technology to create convincing digital surrogates of the dead is here, and its rapidly evolving, with researchers predicting its mainstream viability within a decade. But what about the ethics of bereavementand the privacy of the deceased? Speaking with a loved one evokes a powerful emotional response. The ability to do so in the wake of their death will inevitably affect the human process of grieving in ways were only beginning to explore.
In the past year, neuroscientists and philosophers have been speculating about the potential of, lets say, building a digital duplicate of your grandmother. This copy could exist in a kind of virtual Elysium, able to Skype in to Thanksgiving dinners long after her death. But Hossein Rahnama of Ryerson University and the MIT Media Lab is working on something more immediately realizable than mental duplicates: chatbots crafted from personal data.
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
6 replies, 883 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (0)
ReplyReply to this post
6 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Should we be talking to the dead? (Original Post)
TreasonousBastard
Apr 2018
OP
Kirk Lover
(3,608 posts)1. No. That is all.
brooklynite
(96,882 posts)2. If you buy into the religious fantasy that god communicates with you...
...buying into the fantasy that your Grandmother does isn't a long stretch.
Dread Pirate Roberts
(1,924 posts)3. Only for laughs
Blue_Adept
(6,429 posts)4. Covered in SF for decades in numerous ways
There is no singular path to how it'll be handled on either end, but there's pros and cons to be sure, just like with any tool.
It was a part in the Captain America: Civil War movie as well
dalton99a
(83,371 posts)5. Only if they know winning lottery numbers
Oneironaut
(5,729 posts)6. Creepy, and no. Thats supporting a delusion.
The movie, AI had an effect on me. If someone loses a child, for example, would replacing them with a robot that is an exact replica of them be healthy?
I really dont think so. Youre only trying to solve grief by giving people a delusion to hold on to. Its all a trick. Its an unthinking machine with no consciousness or life acting out lines of compiled code.
I dont think this use of machines is ethical.