This article explores how technology is transforming the way we grieve, examining the rise of online bereavement support groups, social media rituals, and even AI-powered grief bots. It delves into the ethical concerns surrounding these innovations, questioning whether they trivialize death, undermine the reality of loss, or exploit vulnerable individuals.
Death and grief in the digital age: ‘We were able to let her say goodbye through a WhatsApp video call’search bar, and a number of bereavement support groups will appear. “Grief Inspiration” . “Healing Hugs” . “Silent Tears” . Some of these groups are private – you can neither post nor see what’s posted until a moderator approves.
‘The minute I sat down on the train, I knew I’d been scammed’: Are the Irish susceptible to con artists?Technology has become so intertwined with death that a word has spawned to describe the intersection between the two: thanatechnology.
“It’s kind of giving a sense that we are in control of everything and there is no such thing as end of life,” observes O’Reilly-Carroll. She says that when we allow the virtual world to simulate eternal life, a cognitive dissonance can occur. “It makes me wonder how it can perhaps ‘casualise’ death, and we can become more desensitised to something that we don’t experience physically and viscerally. It feels like something that is happening elsewhere – away at a distance – and it can an additional barrier in processing the death of a loved one.”
“They might come back home and everybody else has moved on. And they might go into a house, or a place, or a room where the individual was, and it’s as if it’s just happened.”At Killure Bridge Nursing Home in Waterford, online attendance at funerals has become a regular occurrence, as many residents are high-dependency and unable to make the journey to the church or place of mourning. It’s not unusual for residents to access a service via tablet, device, or laptop.
On the website of the Church of the Annunciation, Rathfarnham, the webcam section grants access to a variety of Masses, including funerals that have taken place in recent times. Clicking on any of these brings up a shot of the altar. At the bottom of the screen, part of the coffin, adorned with flowers, is visible. Songs, sermons and eulogies can be heard through microphones. The congregation is obscured, but those who stand at the lectern, or who bring gifts to the altar, can be seen.
The recording of funerals lends permanence to something that once would have been ephemeral. Do priests like Cosgrove tailor their services to account for this? For Humanist celebrant Siobhán Walls, online funerals have had a useful byproduct. “I have been involved the last few years in training new celebrants, and the live-stream was useful for that because I could say to trainees, I’m doing a funeral on Tuesday at 10 o’clock, and they could all tune in and watch.”
It may well seem morbid, but Rob Treolar of the videography service Absent Friends says watching services back is not an unusual thing for mourners to do. Absent Friends offers a more high-spec experience than regular live-streams: there’s a multi-camera visual, professional audio, an engraved wooden USB with a HD recording, and more. Like the graveside QR codes, it comes at a price: the service costs €450 + VAT.
Society Culture THANATECOLOGY GRIEF SUPPORT ONLINE MOURNING AI ETHICS
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