OPINION: Taking socials into our graves
META has secured a patent for an AI system that continues a person’s online activity after they die. Granted in December 2025, the patent describes a language model capable of analysing a user’s posts, messages, and interactions and then generating new content like comments.
This development is very concerning in my eyes.
In my opinion, the dead should be respected and left to rest; they do not say ‘’Rest in Peace’’ for nothing.
It also makes me wonder where the demand is coming from.
Do we have a need to continue conversing with our deceased loved ones in a digital form?
Consent
If platforms continue the account activity of the deceased, how many will that be, and do we have a say in whether our data is used? Aren’t we putting words into their mouths? Questions that run through my mind, especially after last year, in 2025, the EU fined Meta for not giving users a real choice over their data, showing how high the stakes are.
AI systems learn patterns, but humans are more than patterns; unpredictable, nuanced. We can’t truly quote them, because we’ll never know if they would say such things.
So, it seems unfair to me that we’ll have digital accounts that post in the name of the dead when they no longer have a voice on this earth to defend themselves. It has the potential to create a new level of scandals and ethical dilemmas, ones we haven’t experienced yet, as AI advances in text and audiovisual content.
Environment
Let’s talk about the environmental issues the use of AI brings.
There are already concerns about the use of AI due to its environmental effects.
The servers that are needed to run these AI systems require a lot of energy and water to cool off. ChatGPT consumes an estimated 1.174 billion gallons of water per month. That’s as much as 1.718 Olympic-sized swimming pools. How much of the world’s water sources will be needed to run servers to keep millions of deceased people digitally running?
Mental Impact
Grief is an emotion that every individual will at some point experience. Someone being absent from your normal routine will help you process the loss and continue life. By feeding the illusion that someone is still alive and communicating with them as you’d do in your day-to-day life, it will have a huge impact on an individual mentally, as they can’t fully process loss. They will be stuck in a cycle. We’ll have a society that lives in an alternate universe; their sense of reality will be a blurry line.
Meta isn’t the first to explore this. We have apps like 2wai and Black Mirror episodes like “Be Right Back” showing the risks of digital clones. With mental health systems already overwhelmed, mixing the deceased with the living online could deepen psychological strain on those who are alive.
So, are you ready to live on forever in digital spaces?
At least I know I am not.
Text: Safaâ Bouzambou
Photo: META (© By Safaâ Bouzambou)
Source: Business Insider
