Digital (Im)mortality

The development of digital technologies has led to an explosion of interest in radical life-extension and immortalisation strategies; strategies that are in turn spurring philosophical and social movements, artistic interventions, marketing promises and industry investment. Understanding these developments demands new interdisciplinary dialogues. The aim of this conference is therefore to explore novel ideas, frameworks, and theories of digital life-extension and immortalisation strategies, alongside the practical, legal, and ethical challenges that they pose.

The conference is divided into three parts which provide the conceptual framework of our discussion: (1) philosophy of digital immortality, where we examine new concepts, theories and ideas to describe and analyse the emerging phenomenon of digital life-extension and immortality; (2) design for immortality, where we explore more diverse and creative ways of conceptualising the impact of digital technologies on our ideas of human lifespans and legacies, and lastly; (3) law and ethics of digital immortality, in which we confront these ideas with their (potential) legal and ethical challenges and solutions, especially in terms of issues such as postmortal privacy, access, control, and identity.