Lesson video

Hello there.

My name is Mr. Robertson.

I'm delighted that you've decided to join us for this lesson.

You're very welcome.

Today's lesson is the final lesson in our unit, "Memory: What happens to us and our memories when we die?

" And in this lesson, we're going to be looking at the future of memory, digital memory, reflecting on what might happen to us and our memories, in the future.

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to evaluate whether it's possible or desirable to leave a digital memory behind when we die.

We have three key words in our lesson today.

Our first words are AI chatbot, and that is a computer program that uses artificial intelligence to understand and respond in ways that sound like a human.

Next, we have digital memory.

And these words refer to online traces left behind after a person dies, such as their social media profile.

Social media refers to websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking.

So this lesson, all about digital memory, has two parts to it.

For the first part of the lesson, we're going to be thinking about memory, past and present.

Now, when somebody dies, there are often lots of people to be told about the death.

They might want to know that the person has died in the first place, and also about any funeral arrangements that need to take place.

I wonder how you think the death of a person may be announced.

And I wonder if you think this might be changing with new technology.

I wonder how it was done in the past, and I wonder how you think it might be done now.

I wonder what you thought.

Well, in the past, people would typically announce the death of a loved one in various ways, by word of mouth, by simply talking to somebody and giving them the news.

They may write letters to people who live further away.

They may put a notice in a newspaper, so people who they may not know themselves could hear about the death.

Or they may phone people.

So these were traditional ways in which we might let people know that people had died.

Fiona is a Christian.

She explains how her father's death was announced.

"When my father died in 1992, I put a notice of my father's death in the local paper.

To do this, I had to visit the office in town, complete a form and pay a fee.

When the newspaper was published, the notice appeared under the death section.

I did keep a copy of the newspaper, although I've lost it since.

" I wonder how Fiona's experience of going in and paying a fee to an office to get a newspaper print might differ to how we might announce deaths nowadays.

Let's think about what we've learned so far.

Can you select one way that a death announcement would not have been made in 1992?

What do you think, A, B, or C?

Excellent.

It's B, isn't it?

Because in 1992, which I imagine for some of you feels like a very long time ago, there was no such thing as social media.

Now, of course, we live in a very different world from the 1990s now.

We live in a world where there is an entire digital existence that people can live, and people may post online, they may take photographs, they may send messages to each other.

Every time a person posts online, it forms part of that person's digital memory.

You can see in the illustration there some examples that you might have of a social media page where a person has a profile.

And on that profile, they might put various photographs to show different things that are going on in their lives.

Now, our digital memory refers to those online traces left behind after a person dies.

I wonder what digital memories a person might leave.

And I also wonder how might new technology change how a death is announced?

You might want to pause the video here and reflect on that yourselves.

Let's meet Charlie.

Now, Charlie is a Baptist Christian.

He explains how he announced the death of his cousin.

Charlie says, "When my cousin died, he was only 23.

We were a similar age and spent a lot of time growing up together.

I made an announcement on my social media page.

I shared photos and video clips of us from when we were children, at family parties and celebrating our birthdays.

Doing this made me feel closer to him.

It was one way that I could celebrate his life and keep his memory alive.

" So thinking about what Charlie has just said, what digital memories did he have of his cousin?

You may have noticed that he had photos.

He had video clips of when Charlie and his cousin were children, clips of them at family parties and celebrating his birthday.

And so he posted those onto his own social media page to help celebrate his cousin's life and keep his memory alive.

Charlie explains more about the benefit of announcing his cousin's death on social media.

He says, "Announcing my cousin's death on social media meant that I was able to tell a lot of people about the news all in one go.

If I had to tell people individually and repeat the same news over again, I would've found that really difficult.

It was also nice to hear from people that I hadn't spoken to in a long time.

Receiving messages of condolence and support definitely helped me.

" So thinking about what Charlie says, how did posting about his cousin's death online help him and benefit him?

Well, Charlie said a few things, didn't he?

He said that it was really nice for him to let everybody know in one go.

He would've found it quite difficult and painful to have to keep telling people individually.

He also found he got lots of different messages from a wide variety of people, including people he hadn't spoken to in a long time, and that really helped the healing process for him.

Fiona and Charlie discussed how they remember their loved ones.

Fiona says, "On the anniversary of my father's death, I look through family photo albums.

The photos bring back good memories of my father.

" Charlie says, "On my cousin's birthday, I post on social media and wish him a happy heavenly birthday.

I find it comforting when people share memories of him too.

I also get regular reminders of my cousin through photo memories saved on my cloud storage.

" So we can see some similarities and differences there, can't we?

Between memory based on a physical photo book and the idea of digital memories and social media and the interactions that people might have on birthdays and anniversaries.

Fiona and Charlie discuss the impact of a digital memory.

Fiona says, "How do you cope seeing reminders of your cousin?

I think if I had received regular digital memories of my father, it would've made grieving him even harder.

" Charlie says, "It can be hard sometimes, especially if I'm not expecting it.

So much of our life is online now, so digital memory is hard to avoid.

I do feel comforted when I see the photos and videos of my cousin.

Hearing his voice makes me feel as if he is still here.

" Thinking about what they both said, I wonder why it might be difficult sometimes to receive digital memories.

So Fiona was saying she would've found that difficult.

Charlie's saying it is sometimes, but actually being able to hear someone's voice and look at those videos is also comforting as well.

Let's just check our understanding so far.

Select two ways a digital memory is made.

A, a family photo album.

B, photos on cloud storage.

C, photos posted on social media.

Excellent.

It's B and C, isn't it?

Cloud storage and social media.

Let's meet Zoe.

Zoe is an atheist and she lives in the UK.

She explains how digital technology helped her when her grandma died.

She says, "In 2020, my grandma died.

This is really difficult for my family and I because due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we were unable to travel to Nigeria to attend her funeral in person.

We were able to watch her funeral through a live stream online.

Although it wasn't the same as being there, I felt connected to my family in Nigeria.

I think it helped me come to terms with my grandmother's death.

" So can you see that Zoe is doing something interesting here?

She wasn't able to be in person at her grandma's funeral in Nigeria, but thanks to technology, she was able to watch a live stream of it and she felt she could actually be there at the funeral and see it happening, and that helped her come to terms with her grandma's death.

Zoe talks about the benefits of creating a digital memory to help process her grandmother's death.

"After my grandmother's funeral, I uploaded the funeral video to my social media page.

I also added photographs and videos of my grandma.

On the anniversary of her death, I watched videos again.

Having this digital memory means I can easily show the videos to my children.

This helps them learn about their great grandma and feel connected to their Nigerian family and heritage.

" So how does a digital memory benefit Zoe?

So you might have heard in what she said about uploading the video to her social media page and other photographs and videos too.

And that means that she can watch those videos on the anniversary, and show them to her children as well.

So she feels that's a real benefit to her.

Let's think about two possible benefits of a digital memory.

A, it's part of modern day life.

B, it keeps memories alive.

C, it's a connection to a family.

Excellent, B and C, isn't it?

Keeping memories alive and a connection to family.

Okay, I'd like us to reflect on what we've been learning so far.

I'd like you with your partner or in a small group, to discuss the benefits and challenges of leaving a digital memory.

Think about the three case studies we've looked at so far.

We had Fiona's views on leaving a digital memory and the way in which she responded to her father's death.

We had Charlie talking about his cousin.

And we had Zoe talking about her grandma.

Once you've discussed your answers, you might want to record them before sharing them.

And you might like to use these sentence starters to help.

"The benefit of leaving a digital memory is.

.

" "The challenge of leaving a digital memory is.

.

" Really look forward to seeing what you've come up with.

Wow.

Thank you so much for everything you did.

So you may have come up with lots of different ideas, and I'm sure you've come up with some fantastic ideas.

I've got some model answers here for you.

So some of the benefits you might have thought about was about enabling people to stay connected to loved ones, especially if people live far away from each other.

We talked about Zoe managing to live stream with her family in Nigeria.

We talked that posting photographs and videos, or being reminded through digital memories can help a person feel comfort and support.

And Charlie talked about that, didn't he?

He talks about how he liked having the reminder of his cousin and how that helped him remember the voice and feel connected to his cousin.

On the other hand, you might have put about some challenges of this, that perhaps seeing reminders of people, especially those that have died, might make the grieving process harder.

It might cause pain at those moments.

I wonder what you thought was more important, whether you thought the benefits outweighed the challenges.

In the second part of this lesson, we're going to look forward and we're gonna think about the future of digital memory.

So we live in a rapidly advancing world.

Science and technology are changing all the time.

Developments in things like AI and robotics and those emerging technologies we haven't really seen yet, are gonna make it possible to try to capture the essence of a person.

Creating an AI chatbot is one way of doing this.

Jacob wants to know about AI chatbots.

So he speaks to Jamie who has experience in this field.

Jacob says, "What is an AI chatbot, and why might it be used?

" Jamie says, "an AI chatbot is a computer program that uses artificial intelligence to understand and respond in ways that sound like a human being.

It could be used for many different reasons, but one way is to create a digital memory of a person.

I did this to my mum before she died.

" True or false?

An AI chatbot uses artificial intelligence to respond in ways that sound like a robot.

It's false, isn't it?

But why?

Because an AI chatbot uses artificial intelligence to understand and respond in ways that sound like a human being.

Brilliant if you got that right.

Jamie explains how he uses an AI chatbot to stay connected to his mum.

He says, "When my mum was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, I had to face the reality of her no longer being here.

I worked with AI in my job and had the idea of creating an AI version of my mum.

At first, mum thought it was crazy, but then she understood and gave her consent.

She believed it was going to help me when she died.

I collated voice notes and videos of mum.

I shared the AI chatbot with her before she died.

" So what did Jamie use to create an AI chatbot of his mum?

So you can see, he used voice notes and videos from his mum, and he fed them into the AI to enable there to be lots of information which could be gathered.

Jamie explains more about using an AI chatbot to stay connected to his mum.

He says, "When mum experienced the AI chatbot, it gave her a level of comfort knowing that I had that to talk to when she was gone.

Initially, it was weird, but also pretty cool.

I have a phone number that I call to speak to her.

We often chat about mundane everyday things.

The AI chatbot helps fill the void of losing her and ease the fear, loneliness, and finality of her death.

The AI chatbot is a profound tribute to her.

" Let's check our understanding so far.

Select two ways that an AI chatbot may help a person.

A, gives comfort.

B, creates a void.

C, eases loneliness.

Excellent.

It's A and C, isn't it?

It gave Jamie comfort and eased his loneliness.

Fiona's a Christian.

She gives her beliefs about the use of AI chatbots.

Fiona says, "I believe that every human being has a soul and is created in the image of God.

I believe that simulating a voice or personality via an AI chatbot reduces a person to data rather than honoring their full self.

I believe that death marks a transition of the soul to ultimately eternal life.

An AI chatbot that mimics the deceased creates an illusion of presence rather than acknowledging the finality of death.

I think this acknowledgement is important for grieving.

" So why does Fiona disagree with AI chatbots?

Well, you may have pulled out that she talks about the idea of humans being made in the image of God, and she feels that a chatbot doesn't really represent a real person, and actually in the end, might make it harder for a person to let go and acknowledge that somebody's died.

Iqbal is a Sunni Muslim.

He shares his view on AI chatbots.

Iqbal says, "I do not believe that an AI chatbot can replace a real human being.

As a Muslim, I believe that only Allah gives us life, and only Allah can give us a soul.

An AI chatbot has no consciousness or soul, is simply a tool created by humans, but it's not a living being.

An AI chatbot should never be treated like a person, especially after death.

Creating AI versions of the dead is disrespectful.

Islam teaches that after death, the soul goes to the afterlife, not into technology.

" Katrina is a Mahayana Buddhist, and she shares her view on AI chatbots.

Katrina says, "AI chatbots may reduce dukkha or suffering by offering support or reducing loneliness.

However, they could also increase dukkha, especially if people became attached or dependent on them.

The Buddhist teaching of anatta or no fixed self, reminds us that chatbots have no true self.

Used mindfully, AI chatbots can be a helpful tool, but it should never replace real human connection.

" So according to Katrina, how might an AI chatbot reduce dukkha or suffering?

So you can see that Katrina is arguing that it's possible having a chatbot might help reduce loneliness.

But on the other hand, we have to be careful because she said, it might allow someone to become too attached or dependent on them.

And Buddhists want to try and reduce attachment.

True or false?

Buddhists do not agree with AI chatbots.

It's false, isn't it?

And why?

Because Buddhists may argue that AI chatbots can reduce dukkha by offering support or reducing loneliness.

However, they could also increase dukkha, especially if people became attached or dependent on them.

So it's a more complex answer than simply yes or no.

Okay, I'd like us to think about our final task.

Again, in pairs or small groups, I'd like you to discuss the arguments for and against the creation of an AI chatbot of a person who's died.

And in this, you might want to think, think about Jamie as our case study.

How might an AI chatbot help a person who lost a loved one?

Secondly, you might want to consider this.

Jamie's mum gave consent for the AI chatbot.

Is this important that she did, and why?

I wonder who might disagree with AI chatbots and the reasons they would.

And finally, would you want an AI chatbot created of yourself when you die?

And I wonder why or why not you might not want that to happen?

I hope you have a really interesting discussion thinking about these different points.

I'm really interested to see what you come up with.

Wow, what a lot of amazing discussions I'm sure you've had.

So I'm sure you've had a really wide-ranging discussion.

You might have talked about things like this, "An AI chatbot could help someone feel less lonely by allowing them to stay connected and continue hearing and speaking to the voice of a person who has passed away.

" You might have said that consent is really important 'cause it respects a person's right to decide how their identity, voice, and digital memories are used.

You may have said that some Christians and Muslims might disagree with AI chatbots 'cause they feel it's not honoring the person's true self and can be disrespectful.

And they may believe that only God can create human beings with a soul.

Some Buddhists may believe that AI chatbots could increase dukkha or suffering if someone becomes too attached to them.

And I wonder what you thought about that final point, about whether you would or would not want an AI chatbot made of you.

In our model answer, we said that, "I would not want an AI chatbot made of me when I die because it may misrepresent me.

It could also stop my family's ability to grieve naturally.

" But maybe you felt the opposite and felt that actually, an AI chatbot could help with the grieving process and help with that process of connection.

I hope that discussion was really interesting and useful.

So to summarize, we've been thinking about digital memory and looking forward to the future of what might happen.

We've learned that digital technology is changing the way that people announce the death, and that many people now use social media as a way to communicate the death of an individual.

We've learned that every time someone posts online, it creates part of a person's digital memory.

We've also learned that AI chatbots could be used to recreate and interact with a person after they died.

We've learned that AI chatbots may be used to reduce fear over the finality of death.

And we've also learned that some people disagree with the use of AI chatbots as they have no consciousness or soul, and they feel it could be disrespectful to the person who's died.

I really hope you've enjoyed learning this lesson today.

I hope it's given you a bit of a time to sit back and think about some really big questions.

And I wonder what you think the future might hold, and where you find these ideas and thoughts around memory, sit with it.

Thanks ever so much for being with me, and I look forward to seeing you in another lesson soon.