AI blurs the line between life and death

“I see dead people” – that was a famous line from the 1999 Hollywood psychological thriller The Sixth Sense, directed by M Night Shyamalan. That line came to mind recently when an AI-generated video popped up on Kerala social media, showing former Chief Minister and Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader EK Nayanar making a speech.

In the video, the late CPM veteran was shown exhorting party members to make the upcoming convention a grand success. It was not mentioned in the video that Nayanar had passed away in 2004.

Now, nobody made a huge fuss about Nayanar’s video, probably because it seemed fairly innocuous, though some of his followers admitted it was of rather amateurish quality. It was obviously made by party supporters, and they may have even obtained permission from the former Chief Minister's family.

But let’s think about this for a second – who actually gets to decide if it’s okay to bring someone back digitally? Their family? Their political party? Or the techies who can make it happen?

More than these questions, what’s even more worrying is the lack of any debate about it. It’s pretty unsettling when trivial eventslike two celebrities throwing mud at each othercan generate a stream of reels, fiery debates, and incessant social media chatter, something as significant as this barely registers.

Here’s an interesting thought: what if someone had made a video of late Nayanar criticising his own party and thrashing its current leaders? One suspects such an act would have sparked furious debates about ethics, disrespect, and copyright.

That’s pretty messed up when you think about it. With AI now capable of creating realistic videos even from still photographs, anyone with the right tech skills could bring back someone who has passed away – whether their family likes it or not.

Talking to the Dead

Right now in India, most people remember their loved ones through photos on the wall. But how long before technology seeps into the afterlife, keeping the deceased alive digitally – even allowing us to have conversations with AI versions of a departed loved one?

This has already happened in places like Taiwan and China, where some parents have created digital versions of their children who have passed away. Some psychology experts say it may bring solace to grieving parents, but they also warn that beyond the psychological and moral concerns, it opens up a whole can of worms legally.

And it's not just about the dead – look at what’s happening with living celebrities. Remember the viral video of Malayalam movie stars Mohanlal and Mammootty digitally inserted into a scene from the Hollywood classic The Godfather? Sure, it might seem harmless, but the creator of the video clearly never obtained permission from the movie studio or the actors involved. With no clear ground rules in place, it’s like the Wild West out there in terms of what’s allowed and what isn’t.

This gets scary when you consider the extent to which technology can go. Imagine scrolling through social media and suddenly seeing your grandmother, who passed away years ago, endorsing a political candidate or promoting a product.

Sounds far-fetched? Not really. We’re already seeing deepfakes of living people doing exactly that – like Infosys founder Narayana Murthy being used to promote an investment scam. The technology doesn’t discriminate between the living and the dead.

Heart Wrenching

Think about the emotional impact. Sure, seeing a loved one again might bring comfort to some people. But what about those who have spent years processing their grief? Having their deceased loved ones pop up unexpectedly in digital form could reopen old wounds. It’s like an emotional ambush through technology.

Writers of wills may soon have to tackle a bizarre new issue: digital inheritance. Should your digital likeness be something you can pass down in your will? “I leave my face and voice to my eldest son, to be used only for family videos,” may not sound so strange a few years down the line.

We could witness such a scenario sooner than we think if political parties start cloning deceased leaders of their rivals and using them as political weapons.

Forget politics for a moment – think about the commercial possibilities of such cloning. Imagine using historical figures to market products and ending up with Mahatma Gandhi endorsing a liquor brand. Where do we draw the line between creative expression and plain old disrespect?

Legal minefield

Some tech companies are already offering services to “preserve” people digitally before they die. They record hours of video, collect voice samples, and gather personal stories to create detailed digital avatars. It’s like preparing your digital ghost to linger on after you're gone. Some platforms even allow users to interact with their own older versions.

It all sounds fun now, but wait until disputes start breaking out and courts have to deal with such issues. The legal system is nowhere near ready for this. Most laws concerning posthumous rights were written when the most advanced technology was photography. Now, we’re dealing with interactive digital copies of the deceased.

Things could get even trickier if courts have to decide whether you can defame a dead person – or whether a dead person can defame you. Remember, AI can make a digital avatar say or do anything.

Technology could change how we deal with death itself. Instead of accepting that someone is gone, we might start keeping their digital versions around, updating them with new AI improvements, making them more and more “real”.

Tech companies may even control our fate beyond death, pulling the plug on a digital clone of a relative if you refuse to accept increased subscription rates. The psychological trauma that might cause wouldn’t be a concern for a corporate boardroom.

The tech train isn’t stopping anytime soon, so we need to get our act together and establish proper guidelines. Otherwise, instead of dead people's pictures hanging on the wall, we may soon start seeing them hanging around on our mobile phones and computer screens. And maybe, just maybe, “I see dead people” won’t just be a famous movie quote anymore – it’ll be our everyday reality.

Investors promise a bounty

Kerala just concluded a major investment conclave and says it has expressions of interest for investments worth 1.53 lakh crore (1.5 trillion) rupees. The Industries Minister, P. Rajeeve, says 24 information technology companies are on the list of firms that have expressed interest in expanding operations in the state. How many of these promises turn into reality remains to be seen, but the conclave did create a buzz about Kerala’s potential as an investment destination. Some of the panel discussions not only shone a light on the state’s potential but also highlighted the gaps that exist. Hopefully, officials who are patting themselves on the back about the success of the event had time to take note of those too.

The two-day event was jam-packed and one often felt it resembled a big fat Indian wedding, with a lavish buffet of panel discussions. Like a wedding, the main actors basked in the glory of attention and soaked up the lights; most delegates came to genuinely wish the event well and make it a success, some only to be seen at the venue, and there was a fair share of freeloaders. Still, the glitz and glam were of the top order, though one cannot say the same about the organisation.The last-minute scrambles, rush to finish the expo stalls, scratchy audio systems, and overstretched food courts remain the Achilles’ heel of such events, even when planned months in advance.

A cool device that saves lives

Brain damage due to lack of oxygen is a dangerous situation during childbirth, and the WHO says perinatal asphyxia causes about 900,000 deaths every year. Bangalore-based Sensivision is now providing a solution with a device that cools down the baby's temperature, allowing the brain to recover from the trauma of such incidents. The founder of the company, Jayadeep Unni, told YourStory that the device, called Revive, is fully automated and reduces the need for constant monitoring or intervention from nurses and clinicians. The 1997 Cochin University of Science and Technology graduate says the device was developed after decades of research and is already being used in 20 hospitals across India.

e-Plane to deliver air ambulances

In December 2024, when we talked to Satyanarayan Chakravarthy, the co-founder of the IIT Madras-incubated startup e-Plane was confident that his air taxis would be operational by 2026. It looks like their focus has slightly shifted from public transport to air ambulances. Media reports now say e-Plane is working with the International Critical-care Air Transfer Team (ICATT) to provide 788 air ambulances. The company says its e200X eVTOL has rooftop take-off capability and the power to transport patients seven times faster than road vehicles. “Faster airlifts will bridge the gap between accident sites and medical facilities – reducing fatalities and improving accessibility,” says Chakravarthy in a LinkedIn post.

NBA gets robots to aid players

Robots have been showing off their dance moves in China, and now they are stepping onto basketball courts in the US. The NBA recently uploaded videos showcasing AI innovations being used by teams, including robots for rebounding, coaching, and even picking up towels from the locker room floor. As Interesting Engineering reports, this provides a fascinating insight into the future of sports in general. This comes soon after Toyota researchers created a humanoid that can shoot hoops, which they claim holds the Guinness World Record for the most consecutive free throws by a humanoid robot. Makes us wonder – will the NBA aim for an All-Stars vs Robots match soon?