In the future, we aren’t going to fight the robots, we’re going to become the robots. In fact, it may be even sooner — like, now. We’ll have two AI-powered panelists taking questions from the audience. Oh, we’ll have some great biological panelists, too. They’ll discuss artificial intelligence, digital avatars, and the future of identity. […]
Archive | Cultural
Grieving online: social grief goes mainstream
With significant adoption of social networks by people of all ages, we now have a broad population that is open to using the Internet as a way to grieve and remember loved ones after death.
Digital Avatars: what the?
What if you had someone there for you, every single day, without fail – if they were always ready with a kind word or a response to your latest musing. Never mad. Always caring ans concerned. Always ready to take time to be with you. Would it matter if he or she were a robot? […]
You’re Dead. Your Data Isn’t. What Happens Now?
Greetings from Austin, TX and the Samsung SXSW Blogger Lounge. Our team from The Digital Beyond along with Dazza Greenwood (CIVICS.com), Adele McAlear (DeathAndDigitalLegacy.com) and Jesse Davis (Entrustet.com) presented a successful panel yesterday morning, You’re Dead. Your Data Isn’t. What Happens Now? There were several recordings made of the presentation, but most of them aren’t […]
Advice for funeral professionals
We’ve received lots of interest from the funeral profession regarding digital estate planning. It’s a natural fit, but until I talked with Ryan Thogmartin from ConnectingDirectors.com, I wasn’t quite sure how we could help funeral directors. Unfortunate it may be, but it might be too late to secure the digital possessions belonging to their clientele. […]
Life experiences
Shortly after Your Digital Afterlife went to press in October my grandmother passed away at 83. I was fortunate to spend much of her final week at her bedside. In the days that followed her passing I experienced digital legacy first hand. So in the spirit of our book, and in her memory, allow me […]
Virtual Immortality: now available at virtualeternity.com
A new service has launched called Virtual Eternity that promises to create an “intelligent” avatar that can live on after you die. The avatar would look like you, sound like you, and respond to questions just like you do. And it could live on indefinitely after you are gone. The site, virtualeternity.com, allows you to […]
Twitter adopts policy for deceased users
Twitter recently announced its policy for handling the accounts of deceased users. Before I get into my thoughts about the policy, Kudos to them. They’re ahead of the many social websites that do not have any stated policy. It’s also worth stating that there’s a pattern here. Facebook created the memorialized profile around the same […]
Cemeteries Going Digital
We are beginning to see the digitization of cemeteries. Learn about the first company to sell a enhanced memorial product (a digital headstone).
Digital Identity and afterlife coverage at SXSW
A list of events at SXSW that all deal with digital identities and afterlife. Virtual Interviews: A Chat With Darwin’s Ghost #syntheticinterview Ralph Vituccio and John Dessler Carnegie Mellon Entertainment Technology Center Synthetic Interview is a unique technology that allows people to have a conversation with a character or persona as if that person were […]