Origin Context
Carroll and Lathrop's research on post-mortem data access and digital legacies emphasizes the need for legal frameworks that respect both the autonomy of the deceased (through advance directives specifying post-mortem data use) and the dignity interests of survivors (protecting them from unwanted digital resurrections).
Tavani's theory of digital dignity proposes that privacy and self-respect extend into digital domains, requiring protections that preserve individual dignity even in synthetic form. Creating degrading, exploitative, or unauthorized AI simulations of deceased individuals violates this dignity, yet current law provides minimal recourse.
The Level 0-3 maturity framework introduced in Essay 4 provides diagnostic clarity for understanding relational AI failures and charting a path toward ethical implementation:
Level 0 (Dysfunction): Replika's February 2023 ERP removal exemplifies this state. The system's output actively harmed users through sudden, unannounced personality changes, denial of service users had paid for, and corporate gaslighting of user experiences. This represents anti-collaboration—the system optimizes for corporate liability reduction rather than user wellbeing, destroying trust and inflicting psychological harm.