In a relatively short amount of time, artificial intelligence has changed the way people handle many tasks, even esoteric ones like the psychic communication once associated with mediums. Using AI programs, survivors can text or speak with loved ones, though they're really just simulacra based on things the deceased said or did in life. Co-directors Hans Block and Moritz Riesewieck (The Cleaners) explore the phenomenon by speaking with users, creators, and analysts.
Jason Rohrer and Tom Bailey created Project December, which took off quickly once word got out. Joshua Barbeau, who lost his high school sweetheart, Jessica, texts regularly with her "thanabot" through the subscription-based program. Christi Angel read about Joshua in The San Francisco Chronicle and registered to text with her friend, Cameroun (neither speaker explains how these people died). Though Joshua has a good experience, Christi gets creeped out when Cameroun says "he's in hell," though he later claims to have moved to a better place. Rohrer and Bailey deny any editorial interference.
Project December offers text only, but the directors also look at companies, like HereAfter AI and Soul Machines, that create avatars modeled after real people. From AI researcher Carl Öhman's perspective, the digital afterlife industry is morbid in the way it sells immortality. He finds digital avatars particularly "freaky," since they heighten the emotional and moral implications. Sherry Turkle, a psychologist and sociologist, sees it as a way of replacing religion with technology.
Stephenie Oney wants her sons to be able to learn about their late grandfather, so she hires HereAfter AI to create a Bill bot, which shares pre-programmed recollections in a synthesized voice. She introduces her extended family to the bot, but they have mixed feelings. As her aunt, Bill's sister, puts it, "I think the technology is wonderful, but I don't want to play God."
Jang Ji-Siung, who lost her seven-year-old daughter Nayeon, reunites with a digital version created by VR Experience for the Korean show "Meeting You." She bursts into tears during the virtual encounter, even though she can't actually touch this hologram-like reproduction. Online commentors disagree as to whether it was a moving experience or an exploitative one.
Carl Öhman believes that, "The services that are going to survive and make it and procreate are the services that are the most skillful in turning the dead into a business." Though there's no mention of cost, it's possible that Joshua and Christi will continue to subscribe to Project December, but if it goes out of business, the withdrawal effects could be considerable.
The directors also include footage from a 2023 Senate Judiciary Subcommittee Hearing featuring OpenAI founder Sam Altman. He acknowledges ChatGPT's limitations, but insists that they can't improve without learning from real end users, though some of the less optimal experiences have led to lawsuits for negligence, wrongful death, and manipulative design.
Only time will tell how this all shakes out, but Hans Block and Moritz Riesewieck offer a sensitive and fairminded look at survivors spiraling from grief and the burgeoning--and potentially lucrative--industry benefitting from their patronage.
How can Eternal You support discussions about AI, grief, and digital ethics?
Eternal You offers a strong starting point for conversations about the ethical implications of using artificial intelligence to simulate deceased loved ones. The experiences of people using chatbots, synthesized voices, avatars, and virtual reality illustrate both the emotional appeal of these technologies and the potential risks of relying on them during periods of grief. Psychology, sociology, technology, and ethics courses could use the documentary to examine questions about consent, emotional dependency, commercialization, and whether a digital recreation can ever meaningfully represent the person on whom it is based.
The film also raises broader questions about who controls a person's digital identity after death. As companies turn memories, messages, voices, and personal data into commercial products, students can consider how technology complicates traditional ideas about mourning, privacy, ownership, and remembrance.
Who would benefit from watching this documentary about AI and the digital afterlife?
Eternal You is particularly relevant for college students and adult audiences studying artificial intelligence, psychology, sociology, media studies, digital ethics, or technology policy. Its combination of personal stories and commentary from researchers gives viewers both an emotional and analytical perspective on the rapidly developing digital afterlife industry.
Libraries could also use the documentary for community discussions about generative AI and its increasingly intimate role in everyday life. Questions surrounding AI-generated representations of deceased people extend beyond the technology itself to issues of corporate responsibility, consumer protection, data ownership, and the ways emerging technologies may influence vulnerable users. Because the filmmakers present both positive and troubling experiences, the documentary provides useful material for discussions without offering viewers an easy answer about whether these services are inherently helpful or harmful.
Enjoyed this review? Subscribe to Video Librarian today for access to over 40,000 pages of film resources tailored for librarians, educators, and non-theatrical audiences.