(Re)animating the ancestors: Digital personality emulations, ancestor veneration and ethics

Abstract

Veneration of paternal ancestors plays an important role in Chinese tradition. In this article, we offer some speculations about how a new ‘thanatechnology’ – digital personality emulation – may impact on ancestor worship. We explore the ethical issues raised by the use of personality emulations for this purpose, drawing on Confucian, Daoist and contemporary Anglo-American perspectives. For Confucians, the key questions concern the extent to which this technology automates the task of remembering and whether it is corrosive of filial piety. Daoists might be critical of personality emulations owing to a larger disagreement with Confucians about the role of ritual in a good human life. Finally, recent discussions in the Anglo-American literature suggest that the use of this technology would raise questions about the consent of the deceased to emulation, the privacy of users, the danger that users will be manipulated by the designers and/or manufacturers of emulations, and the impact of emulations on the grieving process.