Colloquia

Summary

Nowadays, everyone leaves at least some digital data behind. With the advancements in generative AI, these digital footprints have the potential to be (re)used for creating agents capable of replicating deceased individuals’ interaction styles and behavior. These types of agents are often referred to as AI Afterlives, which can allow a bereaved to reconnect with their deceased. Potential benefits or risks of this technology are still being studied. However, major tech companies and startups have already started investing and investigating in them, and even some small-scale examples of such agents can today be found. While the concept is still emerging, this so-called “Death Tech” industry is expected to expand rapidly.

The idea of reconnecting with the dead using AI technology is not new and has been displayed in several well-known films and TV shows. Public perception and opinion of this technology are also heavily influenced by those told stories or by how tech companies are starting to present its features from a business and commercial point of view. In the shows, the concept of AI Afterlives is often portrayed dramatically or exaggerated (utopian or dystopian), while new start-ups offering AI Afterlives tend to offer polished, optimistic visions. Both might have created and even continue creating biased impressions of what an AI Afterlife agent might actually be and how it might affect us as humans.

Among all the potential users of such technology, young adults are a key group in this discussion. They are most likely to be among the first to experience it as they age with AI tools at their disposal. This thesis aimed to deliver a designed provocative prototype that can facilitate critical discussion and reflection about AI Afterlives among young adults. To do so, it first used the Cultural Probes method to understand how young adults perceive, feel, and experience the concept of AI Afterlives. Then, it employed a multi-method approach by conducting a co-creation workshop where the same participants collaboratively speculated about future narratives involving AI Afterlives. Finally, the narratives developed during the workshop were used with the design fiction approach to create a fictional scenario which was then encapsulated into diegetic prototype ideas. Three concepts were proposed, and ultimately, one was further developed to serve as a diegetic prototype capable of provoking reflection and debate on the topic of AI Afterlives.