In a disturbing new frontier of digital grief exploitation, Russian families are turning to artificial intelligence to create interactive avatars of loved ones killed in the Ukraine war. The practice, which uses chatbots and deepfake technology to mimic the dead, has prompted a stark warning from UK authorities about the ethical and psychological dangers of such ‘resurrection’ efforts. The phenomenon, dubbed ‘digital necromancy’ by some tech ethicists, is spreading rapidly across Russia, where the true cost of the war is obscured by state propaganda.
Startups like ‘Eternal You’ and ‘Replikant’ offer services that generate text responses, voice simulations, and even video images of the deceased based on their digital footprint: social media posts, messages, and photos. For a fee ranging from 5,000 to 50,000 roubles, grieving families can now send texts to a chatbot that replies in the tone and style of their dead son, husband, or brother. The AI models are trained on the deceased's data, learning their speech patterns, memories, and expressions.
While some families report comfort, mental health specialists warn that these interactions prolong traumatic grief and create a dangerous illusion of connection. ‘This is not mourning, it is a digital denial of death,’ says Dr. Elena Popova, a Moscow-based psychologist.
‘The grieving process requires acceptance. AI avatars keep the wound open.’ UK government officials have expressed deep concern, with the Ministry of Justice’s Grief Technology Unit calling for international regulation.
‘We must prevent the monetisation of grief in a way that causes more harm than healing,’ a spokesperson said. The unit is drafting guidelines for ‘digital bereavement services’, but Russia remains outside such oversight. Critics also warn of security risks: what happens to the personal data of the dead?
Could these avatars be hacked, manipulated for political propaganda, or even used to influence the living? The AI industry, notoriously opaque, has offered few answers. Meanwhile, Silicon Valley watches with a mix of fascination and horror.
As the line between life and digital afterlife blurs, we must ask: just because we can resurrect the dead with code, should we? The answer, for the sake of our collective humanity, must be no.
