Digital immortality: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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=== Archiving and digitizing people ===

According to [[Gordon Bell]] and [[Jim Gray (computer scientist)|Jim Gray]] from [[Microsoft Research]], retaining every conversation that a person has ever heard is already realistic: it needs less than a [[terabyte]] of [[computer data storage|storage]] (for adequate quality).<ref name=":0">[http://research.microsoft.com/pubs/69927/tr-2000-101.pdf Digital Immortality], by Gordon Bell and Jim Gray, Microsoft Research</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Bainbridge|first1=William Sims|title=Personality Capture and Emulation|date=November 2013|publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1-4471-5604-8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hiq8BAAAQBAJ&q=digital+immortality&pg=PA2}}</ref> The [[speech recognition|speech]] or [[optical character recognition|text recognition]] technologies are one of the biggest challenges of the concept.

A second possibility would be to archive and analyze social Internet use to map the personality of people. By analyzing social Internet use during 50 years, it would be possible to model a society's culture, a society's way of thinking, and a society's interests.

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During the calibration process, the biological people are living at the same time as their artifact in silicon. The artifact in silicon is calibrated to be as close as possible to the person in question.

During this process ongoing updates, synchronization, and interaction between the two minds would maintain the twin minds as one.<ref name="vhum"/><ref name="esc"/>

== Ethics ==

According to Boston University's Magazine<ref name=":7">{{Cite web |title=The Line Between Biology and Technology Has Blurred—There’s No Going Back |url=https://www.bu.edu/articles/2022/line-between-biology-and-technology-has-blurred/ |access-date=2024-04-17 |website=Boston University |language=en}}</ref>, the advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is ushering humanity into a realm where the boundary between the living and the deceased is becoming increasingly blurred.<ref name=":7" /> James Trew’s<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=2023-07-19 |title=Digital 'immortality' is coming and we're not ready for it |url=https://www.engadget.com/digital-immortality-is-coming-and-were-not-ready-for-it-133022423.html |access-date=2024-04-17 |website=Engadget |language=en-US}}</ref> article talks about generative technology like ChatGPT and Midjourney. James Trew’s article<ref name=":1" />, ''Digital 'immortality' is coming and we're not ready for it,'' provides information about the misfortune of sorting through the possessions of a dead relative and using it for other circumstances.<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal |last=Galvão |first=Vinícius Ferreira |last2=Maciel |first2=Cristiano |last3=Pereira |first3=Roberto |last4=Gasparini |first4=Isabela |last5=Viterbo |first5=José |last6=Bicharra Garcia |first6=Ana Cristina |date=2021-11-26 |title=Discussing human values in digital immortality: towards a value-oriented perspective |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13173-021-00121-x |journal=Journal of the Brazilian Computer Society |volume=27 |issue=1 |doi=10.1186/s13173-021-00121-x |issn=0104-6500}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |date=2016 |title=Martine Rothblatt and the Virtually Human |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.5040/9798400671654.ch-006 |journal=Internet Afterlife |pages=87–106 |doi=10.5040/9798400671654.ch-006}}</ref>

However, with these advancements come a myriad of ethical and legal dilemmas, particularly concerning digital remains and postmortem privacy. <ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=TechiWiki |date=2023-08-10 |title=How AI Will Unlock the Secret of Immortality: The Concept and Benefits of Digital Immortality |url=https://medium.com/aimonks/will-ai-create-immortality-for-humans-in-the-future-490be7248058 |access-date=2024-04-17 |website=𝐀𝐈 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐤𝐬.𝐢𝐨 |language=en}}</ref>

=== '''Mourning and Digital Remains''' ===

Martine Rothblatt<ref name=":2" /> wrote a book about the ethics in digital immortality and made a point about how one of the central questions raised by digital immortality is the nature of identity and authenticity in a digital form. Rothblatt delves into the concept of continuity of consciousness and whether a digital replica of a person can truly capture their essence or if it is merely a simulation.

Like Melody Parker<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Parker |first=Melody |date=2024-03-18 |title=Digital immortality: AI grief tech raises grief, ethical issues with local experts |url=https://wcfcourier.com/news/local/business/digital-immortality-ai-grief-tech-raises-grief-ethical-issues/article_00873c8a-c05b-11ee-b172-5b307ca8b137.html |access-date=2024-04-17 |website=Courier |language=en}}</ref> says in their article, to communicate with someone on the other side of the veil, you don't need a Ouija board or séance. Artificial intelligence may transform the way we grieve as like the author some<ref name=":3" /> view it as a source of solace, others argue it may hinder the natural progression of grief like Rothblatt.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":4" />

=== '''Postmortem Privacy and Digital Immortality''' ===

As AI-enabled replicas interact with the world, concerns emerge about the privacy and autonomy of the deceased<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |title=The Creepy New Digital Afterlife Industry - IEEE Spectrum |url=https://spectrum.ieee.org/digital-afterlife |access-date=2024-04-17 |website=spectrum.ieee.org |language=en}}</ref>. According to Vinícius Ferreira Galvão<ref name=":4" />, their article, ''Discussing human values in digital immortality: towards a value-oriented perspective'', they had stated questions to how ethical issues are regarded after the death of an individual. Questions like “Who owns the data related to the deceased if he/she has not delegated an heir? If a perfect digital copy of the deceased is possible, should it be treated similarly as any human being?” arise.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":2" />

Fiorenza Gamba<ref name=":6">{{Cite journal |last=Gamba |first=Fiorenza |date=2022-10-11 |title=AI, mourning and digital immortality. Some ethical questions on digital remain and post-mortem privacy: |url=https://www.cairn.info/revue-etudes-sur-la-mort-2022-1-page-13.htm?ref=doi |journal=Études sur la mort |volume=n° 157 |issue=1 |pages=13–25 |doi=10.3917/eslm.157.0013 |issn=1286-5702}}</ref>, the author of “''AI, mourning and digital immortality. Some ethical questions on digital remain and post-mortem privacy”'' made claims about the post mortem privacy against digital immortality. The article makes a claim stating that “Holograms, digital twins and chatbots are increasingly used to reproduce the likenesses, behaviours and emotions of the deceased. Moreover, such technologies enable these replicas to interact with the survivors.”<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":4" />

=== '''Legal Implications and Immortality''' ===

According to Bell and Gray’s article<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bell |first=Gordon |last2=Gray |first2=Jim |date=2001-03 |title=Digital immortality |url=https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/365181.365182 |journal=Communications of the ACM |language=en |volume=44 |issue=3 |pages=28–31 |doi=10.1145/365181.365182 |issn=0001-0782}}</ref>, “Digital Immortality.” ''Communications of the ACM'', digital immortality manifests in various forms, from one-way immortality where data is preserved for future generations to two-way immortality where individuals can communicate with artificial versions of the deceased. <ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" />

== In fiction ==