Why Everyone Should Care about Digital Afterlives

Why do digital remains – the data left behind when we die -- matter to everyone on the planet...not just two thirds of the world connected to the Internet?

Why is it true that we live inside the Internet, or inside of an archive?

What are our responsibilities to the digitally preserved dead and to history, and how do our current ways of dealing with the dead connect us to ancient history?

What happens when we combine AI with digital remains? Are we entering a new era of dead labour?

Host Dr Elaine Kasket, cyberpsychologist and author of Reboot: Reclaiming Your Life in a Tech-Obsessed World and All the Ghosts in the Machine, explores fascinating intersections of psychology and technology with equally fascinating guests.

This week she speaks to Dr Carl Öhman of Uppsala University in Sweden, formerly of the Internet Institute. Dr Öhman is best known for predicting, in conjunction with his colleague David Watson, the date at which the dead will outnumber the living on Facebook. His upcoming book is The Afterlife of Data: What Happens to Your Information When You Die, and Why You Should Care. University of Chicago Press is releasing it in April 2024.

Music used under license from Epidemic Sound.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lifeontech.substack.com