AI Griefbots & Ethics

Title

AI Griefbots and Ethical Challenges: Posthumous Data Consent in Digital Mourning

Overview

How do AI-powered griefbots challenge ethical norms around posthumous data consent and digital legacies?

My Role

• Conducted a discourse analysis of over 50 Reddit discussions across communities like r/AIEthics, r/GriefSupport, and r/DeathPositive.

• Explored user concerns about consent ambiguities, emotional risks, and cultural tensions in griefbot interactions.

Methods

• Research Techniques: Netnography and UX research methodologies, including thematic coding and journey mapping using NVivo.

• Tools: Empathy mapping to understand emotional journeys, and contextualization of findings through frameworks from digital anthropology.

Findings

1. Consent Ambiguities: Users reject the implicit assumption that casual digital traces equate to consent for posthumous data use.

2. Emotional Impact: Griefbots evoke both solace and harm, polarizing user experiences.

3. Cultural Dimensions: Western individualism often clashes with non-Western communal mourning traditions.

Impact/Outcome

• Proposed participatory design workshops and cultural adaptors for griefbots.

• Recommended legal frameworks that address posthumous data rights, informed by France’s CNIL policies and Indigenous critiques.

Reflections

• This study highlights the need for ethical AI development that respects mourning rituals and human dignity, rather than commodifying grief for corporate profit.

Link to Full Study

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