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And these emotionally one-sided relationships create a risk of over-reliance, social isolation and exploitation. This risk is especially stark given that chatbots of the dead may be produced by companies with a financial incentive to manipulate users and maximise engagement. A chatbot of the dead that is highly monetised (unlock your chatbot’s ‘car... See more

Practitioners should look to the arts and other cultural resources that help people deal with loss and memorialise history. For example, a chatbot could be designed to speak as a spiritual medium channelling the deceased from a spiritual realm in order to emphasise the separation of death and impart a sense of mysticism to the imaginative experienc... See more

While psychology scholars are cautious in attempting to assess this impact (Cann, 2015; Sofka Cupit Gilbert, 2012; Kasket, 2019), others suggest that, preemptively, to avoid any harm, AI chatbots meant to help cope with the loss of a loved one should be regarded, and therefore regulated, as medical devices (Lindemann, 2022).