"AI Afterlives"as Digital Legacy: Perceptions, Expectations, and Concerns

2025-02-15

AI Summary

This study investigates users’ perceptions, expectations, and ethical concerns regarding “AI posthumous agents”—generative AI–based digital legacy proxies—adopting, for the first time, the modeled individual’s subjective perspective. It identifies fundamental distinctions between AI posthumous agents and traditional digital legacies across identity continuity, lifecycle management, and human–agent interaction. Through semi-structured interviews, thematic analysis, and scenario mapping, the study uncovers six attitudinal determinants and four categories of practical ethical concerns, and proposes stage-specific design principles covering modeling, deployment, and decay. Its key contribution is a novel dual-axis design framework—centered on *identity consistency maintenance* and *invasiveness–supportiveness balance*—that bridges critical gaps in human-centered, ethically grounded AI legacy design. The findings provide empirically informed, actionable guidance for developing trustworthy, respectful, and socially acceptable AI posthumous agent systems. (149 words)

Technology Category

• Philosophy and Ethics of AI: Safety, Robustness & Trustworthiness
• Humans and AI: Learning Human Values and Preferences
• Multiagent Systems: Mechanism Design

Application Category

• User Modeling, Personalization and Recommendation: Accountability, Transparency, and Ethics for personalization
• Responsible Web: Machine-in-the-loop, human agency and autonomy
• Economics, Online Markets and Human Computation: Fairness and ethical considerations in crowd work and in human-in-the-loop AI systems

Abstract

The rise of generative AI technology has sparked interest in using digital information to create AI-generated agents as digital legacy. These agents, often referred to as"AI Afterlives", present unique challenges compared to traditional digital legacy. Yet, there is limited human-centered research on"AI Afterlife"as digital legacy, especially from the perspectives of the individuals being represented by these agents. This paper presents a qualitative study examining users' perceptions, expectations, and concerns regarding AI-generated agents as digital legacy. We identify factors shaping people's attitudes, their perceived differences compared with the traditional digital legacy, and concerns they might have in real practices. We also examine the design aspects throughout the life cycle and interaction process. Based on these findings, we situate"AI Afterlife"in digital legacy, and delve into design implications for maintaining identity consistency and balancing intrusiveness and support in"AI Afterlife"as digital legacy.

Problem

• AI-generated agents as digital legacy
• User perceptions and concerns
• Design implications for identity consistency

Innovation

• Generative AI for digital legacy
• Qualitative study on user perceptions
• Designing identity-consistent AI agents