{"id":859,"date":"2022-08-30T13:34:48","date_gmt":"2022-08-30T13:34:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.forevermissed.com\/blog\/?p=859"},"modified":"2022-09-09T10:55:19","modified_gmt":"2022-09-09T10:55:19","slug":"navigating-digital-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.forevermissed.com\/blog\/navigating-digital-death\/","title":{"rendered":"Navigating Digital Death in the Age of Social Media"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Here in the digital age, most of us exist both offline and online. Offline, our corporeal bodies have expiration dates. Online, though, we can seemingly live forever through our digital data: social media profiles, photos, videos, blog posts, and consumer information. Indeed, the idea of death itself is now highly influenced by technology, and it is further evolving all the time. This is why there is considerable discussion on the topic of \u201cdigital death\u201d and how it can and should be regulated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What is Digital Death?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The very idea of digital death is a phenomenon of very recent culture. It refers to the various ways we represent death in the digital space \u2014 the internet. All the emotional scenarios tied to grief are found online now, too, including mourning rituals and sharing condolences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These technological developments have given rise to new questions, too. Should digital death be regulated? If so, how? How do we use new technology ethically? Unfortunately, none of these questions have easy answers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Roadrunner: A Case Study<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
To provide an example of very real scenarios giving rise to the above questions, let\u2019s look at the 2021 documentary film Roadrunner<\/em>. Though it was filmed entirely after celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain\u2019s 2018 death by suicide, director Morgan Neville used artificial intelligence (AI) technology to make it appear as though Bourdain was delivering monologues throughout the film.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While the technology Neville employed is rather amazing, was it ethical? The audience doesn\u2019t know that the monologues aren\u2019t actually Bourdain speaking. Should Neville have been permitted to use the voice of a deceased person in synthesized speech? Though there are many opinions, but no clear answers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Making the Impossible Possible<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s not just the film industry utilizing new technology \u2014 and creating new ethical dilemmas. The Replika app uses a bot to analyze a deceased loved one\u2019s correspondence with a user \u2014 then creates responses and messages that are similar to their real messages. In effect, a user of the app can chat with their deceased loved ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A company called HereAfter offers a similar technology to living customers who wish to create a chatbot that can communicate with future generations. For example, if you provide information about how you met your spouse, your great-great grandchildren can ask the chatbot about this event in your life, and it will answer them \u2014 in your own voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some technology goes beyond conversations with deceased loved ones. In October 2020, Kim Kardashian shared that Kanye West had gifted her a hologram of her deceased father. Not only did it talk like him, but it also looked like him, too. Kardashian described it as \u201cso lifelike\u201d and a very emotional experience. This type of advanced technology can cost upwards of tens of thousands of dollars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Digital Death on Social Media<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Across the world\u2019s social networks, there are billions of users with registered accounts. So, what happens to a person\u2019s account when they die? Meta, formerly Facebook, has addressed this in their own ways. They were forced to take action because approximately 800 Facebook users die every day. Now, the company allows the heirs of deceased users to turn their loved one\u2019s profiles into \u201cmemorial pages\u201d that will live on forever. An heir can even be appointed during a user\u2019s lifetime. When the user dies, the heir must submit a special request to Facebook support. Once approved, the heir cannot make changes to a user\u2019s past records, remove friends, or read the personal correspondence. However, they can make determinations about new friend requests and posts tagging the deceased.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While it may be comforting that a loved one\u2019s social media account can live on, is it ideal for one heir to have access and responsibility for the account? This is also a question with many opinions but no clear answers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Preserving Memories Safely, Affordably, and Ethically<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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