Themes (353)
Find narratives by ethical themes or by technologies.
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- 15 min
- 2024
In this piece, Leong—a Catholic attorney and theology graduate student—explores the ethical, spiritual, and emotional implications of “grief tech,” particularly AI-powered “ghostbots” that simulate conversations with deceased loved ones. She critiques this technology through a Christian theological lens, drawing on thinkers like Karl Rahner and Tina Beattie to argue that such digital recreations undermine the embodied nature of human personhood and the Christian understanding of death.
- 2024
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- 15 min
- 2024
The false promise of keeping a loved one “alive” with A.I. grief bots.
In this piece, Leong—a Catholic attorney and theology graduate student—explores the ethical, spiritual, and emotional implications of “grief tech,” particularly AI-powered “ghostbots” that simulate conversations with deceased loved ones. She critiques this technology through a Christian theological lens, drawing on thinkers like Karl Rahner and Tina Beattie to argue that such digital recreations undermine the embodied nature of human personhood and the Christian understanding of death.
- What does the article suggest about the meaning of personhood, and how might AI griefbots distort this concept?
- How might someone from a different religious or cultural tradition respond differently to the idea of digitally resurrecting the dead?
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- 60 min
- Association for Computing Machinary
- 2023
A qualitative study was conducted with 10 participants who use griefbots to cope with loss after the death of a loved one. Interviews were about an hour long each, and the results are compiled in a readable table.
- Association for Computing Machinary
- 2023
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- 60 min
- Association for Computing Machinary
- 2023
The “Conversation” about Loss: Understanding How Chatbot Technology was Used in Supporting People in Grief.
A qualitative study was conducted with 10 participants who use griefbots to cope with loss after the death of a loved one. Interviews were about an hour long each, and the results are compiled in a readable table.
- What other questions could the researchers have asked the users?
- Do you think this service is something you might use? What information would you want in a griefbot about a loved one?
- What are the ways in which a bad actor could use this service in harmful ways?
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- 10 min
- MIT Media Labs
- 2021
This is an MIT research project. All data for research is collected anonymously for research purposes.
This project will show you a variety of media snippets including transcripts, audio files, and videos. Sometimes, we include subtitles. Sometimes, the video is silent. You can watch the videos as many times as you would like. The site will ask you to share how confident you are that the individual really said what we show. If you have seen the video before today, please select the checkbox that says “I’ve already seen this video.” And remember, half of the media snippets that are presented are statements that the individual actually said. Read more about this project and the dataset used to produce this research on the About page
https://detectfakes.media.mit.edu/about
- MIT Media Labs
- 2021
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- 10 min
- MIT Media Labs
- 2021
Detect DeepFakes
This is an MIT research project. All data for research is collected anonymously for research purposes.
This project will show you a variety of media snippets including transcripts, audio files, and videos. Sometimes, we include subtitles. Sometimes, the video is silent. You can watch the videos as many times as you would like. The site will ask you to share how confident you are that the individual really said what we show. If you have seen the video before today, please select the checkbox that says “I’ve already seen this video.” And remember, half of the media snippets that are presented are statements that the individual actually said. Read more about this project and the dataset used to produce this research on the About page
https://detectfakes.media.mit.edu/about
- What about these videos is so disturbing?
- How can we be convinced to not trust our own judgement about the information being presented?
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- 5 min
- Tech Crunch
- 2025
Users being able to upload conversations they have with Meta AI has led to some viral posts containing personal data with the world.
- Tech Crunch
- 2025
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- 5 min
- Tech Crunch
- 2025
The Meta AI app is a privacy disaster.
Users being able to upload conversations they have with Meta AI has led to some viral posts containing personal data with the world.
- Do you think that search engines like Google and Bing should also attempt to turn their searches into a social media feed? Why or why not?
- How does the need for new data for AI-based products drive this trend of digital footprint integration? Would you be willing to opt out of an AI ecosystem that collected and posted your search data or would you restrict your searches and use it anyway?
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- 10 min
- The Guardian
- 2025
Meta was accused of violating fair use agreements. Writers Sarah Silverman and Ta-Nehisi Coates had argued that the Facebook owner had breached copyright law by using their books without permission to train its AI system. It was later decided in court that fair use agreements were not violated because of the prosecution’s inability to prove how this would cause market dilution by flooding the market with work similar to theirs. This may, however, be a case of not making a compelling argument in court.
- The Guardian
- 2025
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- 10 min
- The Guardian
- 2025
Meta wins AI copyright lawsuit as US judge rules against authors
Meta was accused of violating fair use agreements. Writers Sarah Silverman and Ta-Nehisi Coates had argued that the Facebook owner had breached copyright law by using their books without permission to train its AI system. It was later decided in court that fair use agreements were not violated because of the prosecution’s inability to prove how this would cause market dilution by flooding the market with work similar to theirs. This may, however, be a case of not making a compelling argument in court.
- How is media being uploaded to AI without the owner’s permission harmful to people who rely on creative work for their careers?
- How has the movement of open information access and internet technologies helped to fuel recent advances in AI?
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- 5 min
- Nature
- 2025
Research has found that 90% of studies on AI development, as well as 86% of the resulting patents, involve human imaging. This means that data used to train AI models are well suited to being used in surveillance applications by military, law enforcement, corporations, and other private actors. There is also substantial evidence to suggest that much of the research that created the current models were funded by government and military agencies.
- Nature
- 2025
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- 5 min
- Nature
- 2025
Is AI watching us?
Research has found that 90% of studies on AI development, as well as 86% of the resulting patents, involve human imaging. This means that data used to train AI models are well suited to being used in surveillance applications by military, law enforcement, corporations, and other private actors. There is also substantial evidence to suggest that much of the research that created the current models were funded by government and military agencies.
- Why do you think such a significant proportion of the studies involve human imaging?
- What are the ethical barriers in using human imaging to advance AI research?
- What are potential cases in which the images and information collected may be misused by government or private companies?