Effects of Generative Ghost Responses on Bereavement

Ascertain how interactive responses produced by generative ghost AI agents—agentic, AI-powered representations of deceased individuals that generate novel content—impact the bereavement process of surviving loved ones.

Background

The paper notes that people commonly maintain bonds with the deceased through one-sided communication, such as speaking graveside or writing messages, which can be cathartic and part of healthy grieving. However, in those practices the dead do not respond; mourners imagine how the deceased would reply.

Generative ghosts differ by producing novel, in-character responses and potentially engaging in ongoing, interactive exchanges. The authors explicitly state that the consequences of receiving such responses for bereavement are not yet understood, motivating a need to investigate their psychological and social impacts.