Doing Right by the Digital Dead - Day 2

Doing Right by the Digital Dead - Day 2

What do we owe the dead when digital technologies can preserve their traces, reproduce their likenesses, and make them appear to speak again?

Doing Right by the Digital Dead is a two-day workshop examining the ethical significance of digital representations of the deceased. The central questions are not merely about what technology permits, but about what it is permissible for us to do with the traces of those who are no longer here to answer for themselves. What becomes of consent after death? What is the relation between a deceased person and the digital representation constructed from their remains? And when an AI system appears to restore a dead person’s voice, personality, or agency, what exactly has been restored?

The second day brings together four papers addressing these questions from different directions. The discussion ranges from philosophical critiques of digital reanimation and rituals surrounding AI representations of the dead to griefbots, post-mortem obligations, consent, and the representation of historical figures.

Friday, 4 September 2026

9:00 am–12:00 pm Melbourne (AEST)

7:00–10:00 pm Eastern Time (North America) (Thursday 3 September)

Programme

9:00–9:45 am Melbourne (AEST): Kiki Berk - A Sartrean Critique of Digital Reanimation

9:45–10:30 am Melbourne (AEST): Pengbo Liu - Rituals, Ancestors, and Chatbots of the Dead

10:30–11:15 am Melbourne (AEST): Hugo Cossette-Lefebvre - Relational Egalitarianism, Griefbots, and Post-Mortem Obligations

11:15 am–12:00 pm Melbourne (AEST): Patrick Stokes - Consent and Misrepresentation: AI Remediation of the Long Dead

Each presentation will run for up to 30 minutes, followed by at least 15 minutes of questions and discussion.

Day 1 of the workshop will take place on Monday, 31 August 2026. (https://philevents.org/event/show/152813)