The Digital Afterlife Industry (DAI) has evolved significantly since its early roots in the mid-2000s, when platforms like Facebook began memorializing deceased users’ accounts instead of deleting them. This marked a shift in how death and digital presence interact. With the advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Large Language Models (LLMs), currently, the DAI  extends beyond static memorialization into dynamic, interactive recreations of deceased individuals. Known as AI griefbots or deathbots, these LLMs, similar to other AI chatbots look to build a “personality” of a deceased loved one, while continuing to learn from user interaction to become increasingly more adept at revitalizing the deceased.  

This project explores the intersection of LLMs and the DAI, focusing on the ethical, social, and cultural implications of these technologies in two avenues. Firstly, we aim to examine the concerns surrounding the newest avenue for profit-driven and exploitative grieving strategies as a personal data concern. We additionally look to the hyper-individualizing and isolating processes of grief that these griefbots promote. Through an in-depth theory-driven analysis, the aim is to provide a nuanced understanding of how AI-driven tools are reshaping the deeply personal and cultural experience of grief, contributing to broader discussions in digital ethics and the future of AI in human-centered domains.