AI Ghosts: Griefbots, Digital Twins, and Who Owns a Human Identity

The Rocky Mountain AI Interest Group (RMAIIG) will host an in-person meeting in Boulder on Tuesday, October 13th, at 6:30 pm MT on “AI Ghosts: Griefbots, Digital Twins, and the Question of Who Owns a Human Identity”

What happens when AI begins to feel like someone we know, admire, or even someone we’ve lost?

At this meeting, we’ll explore the emerging world of “AI ghosts,” including griefbots (digital twins of lost loved ones), AI representations of living people, and chatbots that can feel eerily sentient and human.

Researchers and technologists are already experimenting with systems that can recreate elements of a person’s voice, personality, memories, conversational style, appearance, and creative identity. For some people, these technologies may offer new ways to preserve memories, maintain a connection, or find closure. For others, they raise profound questions about grief, identity, consent, ownership, emotional attachment, and what it means for an AI to convincingly simulate a human being.

We’ve brought together a set of speakers who are researching, building, experiencing, and thinking about this firsthand. They will help guide our conversation around some fascinating questions: Who owns a human identity, and what rights should survive when someone is gone? What happens when the simulation becomes extraordinarily convincing? And where should the boundaries be?

Join us for a fascinating and slightly eerie evening at the intersection of AI, memory, creativity, identity, law, grief, and what it means to be human.

Speakers to be announced shortly!

Kudos to Susan Adams and Phil Nugent for organizing and running the meeting!

We need a pizza sponsor! If you are interested in helping, please send an email to dan@rmaiig.org with "Pizza Hero" in the subject line.

AI Ghosts: Griefbots, Digital Twins, and the Question of Who Owns a Human Identity
CU Boulder East Campus: In-person
Aerospace Engineering Sciences Building (Room 120)
3775 Discovery Dr., Boulder, CO 80303
Tuesday, October 13th
6:30 - 8:30 PM
5:45 PM Free pizza (if we get a pizza sponsor)
Parking: https://www.rmaiig.org/parking

Special thanks to Bobby Hodgkinson for suggesting this month's meeting topic and arranging the meeting space!