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The AI Syllabus

This guide is designed to provide access to the concepts and resources comprising the AI Syllabus by Anne Kingsley and Emily Moss.

Grief and Memory

Critical AI Literacies: 

  • Assess AI's potential and limitations in grief aid, balancing support and ethical concerns. 
  • Explore data privacy risks in grief tech, focusing on AI's collection and use of personal experiences and emotions. 

On this page you will find multimedia sources that demonstrate the relationship between AI and grief including the rise of AI avatars of deceased loved ones and the grief tech industry. These sources address ethical concerns with these practices including those around data privacy and relying on machines for affective experiences. This page also includes key concepts, activities, and assignments to build understanding of and critically engage with the AI through the lens of grief and memory. 

Sources

Grief and Memory

Sources: 

 

Bryce, A. L. (2023, March). “The Rise of Grief Tech: AI is being used to bring the people you love back from the dead”. 

  • Explores how AI technologies can help preserve memories and help with grief. #Practical

 

Dogwoof. (2024, April 20). Eternal You - international trailer [Video]. Youtube. 

  • The official international trailer for the documentary that explores the griefbot industry. #Practical

 

Fagone, J. (2021, July 23). The Jessica simulation: Love and loss in the age of AI. San Francisco Chronicle. 

  • This long form article profiles Joshua who experiments with Project December - an AI-based simulator - to explore his grief. #Practical #Philosophical

 

Godfrey, C. (2019, April). “The Griefbot that Could Change How We Mourn”. The Daily Beast.

  • This article discusses how a data scientist is building an AI of his late father so his children can know their grandfather and talks about the rise of the griefbot. #Practical

 

Indiewire. (2024, January 30). ‘Eternal You’ directors discuss role AI is playing in the lucrative business of grief [Video]. Youtube. 

  • A 13 minute interview with the filmmakers of the documentary, Eternal You, at the Sundance film festival in which they talk about their initial interest in the griefbot industry and how that evolved into curiosity about the people who choose to create and/or interact with AI versions of loved ones who have passed. They also discuss the dangers and opportunities of using AI in this capacity. #Practical #Philosophical

 

The Guardian. (2024, September 24). Back from the dead: Could AI end grief? [Video]. Youtube. 

  • This 13 minute video is a piece of investigative journalism that looks at the Grief Tech industry and includes interviews with people who build and use AI versions of deceased loved ones. Explores ideas of humanizing AI, the purpose and problem of grief, and several different perspectives on how it feels to interact with GenAI. #Philosophical #Practical

 

Vauhini, V. (2021, August 9). Ghosts. The Believer.

  • The author of this article used a generative AI to co-write stories about her deceased sister and was moved by the results. #Practical #Philosophical

 

Wallace, L.L. (2025, January 25). ‘This app became my best friend’: Mourning is human. New grief apps want to ‘optimise’ it for you. BBC. 

  • This article explores grief tech companies like DayNew, Untangle, and Empathy and how users feel about engaging with AI elements of grief apps as well as very real concerns about data privacy and monetization of the data of people in a vulnerable space. #Practical #Philosophical

 

 

Building Critical AI Literacies

KNOWING: 

AI-driven grief technologies offer new ways to process loss, from virtual memorials to chatbots that simulate conversations with the deceased. While these tools can provide comfort and connection, they also raise ethical concerns about data privacy, emotional manipulation, and the commercialization of mourning.

To critically engage with AI and grief, it's important to: 

  • Investigate how AI-driven grief tech interprets and responds to human emotions to shape the grieving process. 
  • Analyze the ethical concerns of grief tech including privacy, consent, and the commodification of personal emotions. 
  • Evaluate the benefits and limitations of AI in grief support considering its role in comfort, memory preservation, and emotional well-being. 

DOING: 

  • What space or need is AI entering in terms of grief, mourning, and memory? What are the major conversations? Opportunities? Limitations? 
  • Can AI be used to help solve issues related to death preparation, grief, and historical preservation? In groups/research teams, use AI to come up with a set of tools, ideas, and strategies to prepare for end-of-life.
  • Use AI to come up with research projects related to AI, Grief, and Memory. Choose one to complete.

FEELING: 

After engaging with the resources on this page, consider these critical self-reflection questions about what you've learned. 

  • How do you feel about the idea of using AI to support or simulate grieving experiences (e.g., through chatbots or digital memorials)?
  • Does the use of AI in grief support feel comforting or unsettling to you? Why?
  • What ethical concerns, if any, do you have about the use of AI in such personal and emotional contexts?