Activity
RountableDescription
This roundtable explores the emergence of so-called “griefbots” — AI systems designedto simulate communication with deceased persons — from the combined perspectives of media, law and philosophy. Griefbots are increasingly framed as tools for comfortand emotional continuity, yet they also redistribute power over death, memory, andrelationships between humans and non-human systems.The roundtable explores how griefbots reconfigure practices of mourning by introducinga sort of ‘absence of death’. We ask whether these systems empower grievingindividuals by offering new modes of remembrance and care, or whether they riskreshaping grief into a technologically managed and governed process. What kinds ofemotional agency are produced when non-human systems speak in the voice of thedead, and how does this affect concepts of authenticity, personhood, and relationalpower?
The discussion will also focus on power relations embedded in the governance of post-mortem data. Who controls digital remains? How are consent, personality rights, anddata protection negotiated after death? What forms of surveillance, commercialexploitation, or psychological harm may arise from the platformisation of grief, and who will have access to digital immortality and who will not?
The session will be conducted as an interactive roundtable with structured audienceparticipation, using short scenarios and prompts to encourage collective reflection. Participants will be invited to contribute disciplinary and personal perspectives. Ratherthan offering definitive answers, the roundtable aims to map key tensions betweentechnological power, emotional practices, and normative frameworks and to critically explore how power over death is being redistributed through griefbots.
| Period | 19 Jun 2026 |
|---|---|
| Event title | Centre for Death & Society (CDAS) Conference 2026: Death and Power |
| Event type | Conference |
| Degree of Recognition | International |