Postmortem avatars in grief therapy: Prospects, ethics, and governance

TL;DR

This paper explores the ethical, therapeutic, and governance considerations of using AI-created postmortem avatars in grief therapy, proposing potential applications and emphasizing the need for empirical research.

Contribution

It introduces novel therapeutic applications of postmortem avatars and discusses ethical objections and governance challenges in clinical settings.

Findings

Ethical objections to PMAs are not definitive barriers to their therapeutic use.

PMAs can be integrated into imaginal grief exercises like the empty chair.

Governance and empirical research are essential for safe implementation.

Abstract

Postmortem avatars (PMAs) -- AI systems that simulate a deceased person by being fine-tuned on data they generated or that was generated about them -- have attracted growing scholarly attention, yet their potential role in clinical settings remains largely unexplored. This paper examines the ethics of deploying PMAs as therapeutic tools in grief therapy. Drawing on the dual-process model of grief, the theory of continuing bonds, and the philosophical framework of fictionalism, we propose two potential therapeutic applications: incorporating PMAs into established imaginal exercises such as the empty chair exercise, and treating the process of PMA creation as an art-therapeutic exercise in its own right. We consider five ethical objections to these applications and argue that none constitute knock-down arguments against therapeutic use, particularly given the risk-mitigating role of the clinical context. We conclude by identifying outstanding governance challenges and calling for empirical research, without which neither the promise nor the dangers of therapeutic PMAs can be adequately assessed.