Paper Short Abstract:

Based on on-going ethnographic research, we will explore the implications of AI and algorithms on conduct of online ethnographies, in a sensitive issue as death. Does the use of AI, on-line memorials and chatbots help people in overcoming grief or do they prevent them from carrying it on?

Paper Abstract:

Death used to entail a great deal of writing: sending letters or posting on newspapers to announce the death of a dear one. What happens now when the memory of the dead one is shared by 3000 facebook “friends”, who no longer write letters but post on social media? How does one feel when receiving a fb invitation for a birthday celebration from someone who passed away a while ago and became a “digital ghost”?

This paper focuses on dying in the digital age in Portugal, where attitudes towards death have changed immensely in the past thirty years; lately, the interplay of AI and death has accelerated the changes. People turn to on-line memorials to imprint the memoires of the departed beloved ones, but also to seek comfort in their grief. What implication does this have on ethnographic research? How can ethnologists research the implications of the use of social media on grief, as what was before written in the tombstones or in cards sent to the grieved ones is now written digitally in on-line memorials? Furthermore, with AI, we now have persons using chatbots and other digital means to communicate with their dead.

Based on on-going ethnographic research, we aim to explore the implications of AI and algorithms on the equity and conduct of online ethnographies, especially in a sensitive issue as death. Does the use of AI, on-line memorials and chatbots help people in overcoming grief or, on the contrary, do they prevent them from carrying it on?