AI 'Deadbots' Turn Digital Traces of the Dead Into Chatbots for the Living

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A growing industry of AI-powered services is using text messages, voice recordings, and social media data from deceased individuals to create chatbots that simulate ongoing conversations with the dead. Platforms such as HereAfter AI and Eternos offer varying approaches, ranging from curated interactive memoirs to real-time AI voice models that generate new speech in a deceased person's voice. The global digital legacy market was valued at around $22.46 billion in 2024 and is projected to more than triple by 2034, according to Zion Market Research. In early 2026, investigations by major publications including The Atlantic highlighted the phenomenon, while Meta was simultaneously granted a patent to keep user accounts active posthumously via large language models. The rapid expansion of this industry has raised urgent ethical questions about consent, grief, and who holds the right to allow the dead to keep communicating.

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