SEATTLE — Artificial intelligence continues to weave itself into the fabric of daily life; its applications are becoming increasingly personal. From customer service to health care, AI is transforming how we interact with technology.
One of the more poignant uses of AI is in the creation of “griefbots,” digital simulations of deceased loved ones designed to help people process grief.
These AI ghosts use the digital footprints of the deceased—emails, texts, and social media—to mimic their personalities.
Dr. Muhammad Aurangzeb Ahmad, an affiliate assistant professor at the University of Washington Bothell’s School of STEM, embarked on a journey to create such a bot after his father’s death in 2013.
His motivation was not his own grief, but the desire for his children to know their grandfather. The result was Grandpabot, a digital simulation of his father.
Ahmad, who also serves as a research fellow in the Surgery Department at Harborview Medical Center, has long been fascinated by AI. Growing up in Pakistan, he was introduced to the subject through technical books imported by his father’s book agency. His work now focuses on machine learning and AI applications in health care, particularly in end-of-life scenarios.
To create Grandpabot, Ahmad utilized letters, writings, and audio recordings of conversations with his father.
These recordings, though not initially intended for the bot, were instrumental in capturing his father’s digital likeness. Ahmad recalls the emotional intensity of interacting with the simulation, noting moments when he had to step away due to the overwhelming realism.
While Grandpabot offers Ahmad’s children a chance to know their grandfather, he acknowledges that the simulation is filtered through his own experiences and memories. “When we think of a person, our idea of that person is always filtered through our lens,” he explained, highlighting the subjective nature of such digital recreations.
An image of{ }Dr. Muhammad Aurangzeb Ahmad. (Courtesy UW){ }
Ahmad’s experiment with Grandpabot is unique in that it is not centered around grief but rather on familial connection. Over the years, his children’s perceptions of death and digital interactions have evolved, particularly during the pandemic when digital communication became commonplace.
Despite the potential benefits of griefbots and companion bots, Ahmad remains cautious about their impact on human relationships. “We already have a loneliness epidemic,” he said, expressing concern that these bots could lead to neglect of real human connections. He emphasizes the importance of investing time and effort into human relationships, which are inherently complex and require work.
When asked about archiving his own personality for future bot use, Ahmad has chosen not to pursue it at this time. Instead, he focuses on creating meaningful moments with his children in the present.
