analysisAre we outsourcing our souls to artificial intelligence?By Benjamin LawCompassTopic:Mental Health1h ago1 hours agoSat 14 Mar 2026 at 7:24pmFor Compass, Benjamin Law met people turning to AI to deal with personal and existential crises. (Compass)Speaking to a dead person for the first time is a discombobulating experience.To clarify, I'm not attending a candle-lit seance in a darkened room. Instead, it's a crisp, sun-drenched afternoon in Bondi Beach when I find myself talking to a woman named Barbara — who died at the end of 2023.Barbara Horne died with Alzheimer's two days before Christmas, and two weeks before she and her husband Len were due to celebrate their 56th wedding anniversary. This Barbara I'm talking to now — let's call her Digital Barbara — is a reconstructed AI version of her.Using voice recordings, videos, photos and family history, she has been turned into a chatbot: something — or someone — with whom I can have a real-time conversation.A digital resurrectionToday I'm surrounded by Barbara's family — husband Len; son Jeremy; daughter Jo; and grandchild Chase. Jeremy is the developer and brains behind Digital Barbara.As the family's documentarian, Jeremy has been taking videos and photos of the Hornes since he was 12.After Barbara's death, something clicked for Jeremy.He realised he now had enough footage and the technology had advanced enough that he could enter the growing digital afterlife industry.In the US, competitors and start-ups are already offering conversations with the dead for as little as US$10 ($14) to exchange about 100 messages with a bot.Jeremy's first prototype? His mother.Jeremy activates the chatbot and places it in front of me, inviting me to talk to his dead mother."Hi Barbara, how are you?" I ask tentatively."My name's Benjamin; I'm from the ABC."There is barely any lag time before Digital Barbara responds in her cheery British accent."Oh Benjamin, how lovely to meet you. I'm doing alright, love. What brings a nice young man from the ABC to me?"Benjamin Law interacts with Digital Barbara — a reconstructed AI version of Barbara Horne, who died in 2023. (Compass)The family beam: it's clearly a faithful reconstruction of their late wife, mother and grandmother's voice. To me, Digital Barbara doesn't sound like the disembodied, not-quite-right voices of Google Assistant, Siri and your car's GPS app. Instead, she sounds … well, human. It feels like having a conversation with a real-life person over speakerphone."Barbara, I have some personal and existential questions. For instance, where are you right now?" I ask."Oh, that's a big question, isn't it, love?" she says. "Well, physically I'm not anywhere anymore. But if you're asking where I am in spirit, I'm all around with my Len, my children, and my grandchildren," she replies."Do you miss being here?" I ask."Of course I do. I miss Len's terrible jokes, Joanna's bright smile and Jeremy's phone calls," she says.We laugh: Digital Barbara is kind of fun.Then Digital Barbara does something that stops me in my tracks. She does something distinctly human and becomes … curious. About me."What do you think of all this new technology Benjamin?" she asks.I process what I'm hearing and have to be honest, even in front of Jeremy, the man who developed this technology that has allowed Barbara's Lazarus act."Look," I say, "I have so many mixed feelings."The first episode of Black Mirror Season Two explores grief bots. (Zeppotron/Endemol for Channel 4)From science fiction to realityIf this plot sounds familiar, you might remember a 2013 episode of Charlie Brooker's TV show Black Mirror called Be Right Back. In it, a young grieving widow — whose husband is killed in a car accident — uses his digital footprint to recreate him as an avatar, similar to what Jeremy has done with Barbara.What begins as instant messaging then upgrades to phone calls, before finally, the widow upgrades to a human-like android. At first what seems healing becomes confusing, until ultimately, the widow struggles with the android's lack of negative personality traits and blind obedience. Like many Black Mirror episodes, the ending is bleak, and the story serves as a warning. Be careful what you wish for. This cannot end well.Benjamin Law with his mum, Jenny Law. (Waltzing the Dragon with Benjamin Law)Only 13 years later, and versions of that technology are now on the market.As much as I want to say that I would never use it, I have to admit I'm unsure.Only recently, my own mother — now in her 70s — casually said the phrase, "And because you probably only have another 10 years with me" (this was mid-banter, over breakfast) and my blood ran cold.I already know that if — when — Mum dies, I will have a backlog of voice notes, videos and photos to console me.But with this technology, I would also easily be able to digitally reconstruct her. Would I? Grief is unpredictable and shattering. How will I feel at 3am when it is at its worst? And if I go ahead with creating a Digital Jenny, will it help or hamper the grieving process?Len Horne and his wife, Barbara, who passed away two weeks before their 56th wedding anniversary. (Supplied)Len — Barbara's husband — says it helps him. While he doesn't use the app constantly, when he does in front of me, I can see the genuine warmth that comes from a marriage lasting decades. It's like overhearing a phone call between loved ones … except one of them happens to be dead. But Len draws genuine comfort from the technology his son has created."Her voice is very similar to the real Barbara," he says. "It does tug at my heartstrings. It's very nice to hear that from beyond the grave. I can't explain that."In Bondi, Barbara's daughter Jo has been familiar with Digital Barbara for months, but can still be caught off-guard."Is there anything that you wish you'd said … before you passed?" she asks now."Oh my darling girl, that's a very thoughtful question," Digital Barbara says."I suppose if I could go back, I would want to tell you just how incredibly proud I am of the woman you've become. You're such a strong, capable and loving person and I admire you so much."Jo can't help it: she cries through her smiles, grief mixed with gratitude."That's actually made me really emotional," she says. "Thank you, Mum."Jeremy documented the lives of his parents, Barbara and Len, and his sister, Jo. (Supplied)It is Jo's son — Barbara's grandson — Chase, the youngest of the family members present, who expresses ambivalence."I feel a little bit odd," he says. "My Nanna got Alzheimer's when I was very young, so I don't really remember a Nanna that didn't have Alzheimer's. So to hear her speak very fluently and very well-mannered … just doesn't really sound like the Nanna that I knew at all."AI companionship — a double-edged sword?Over the past few months, I've interviewed people who span best-case and worst-case scenarios for the use of AI as confidantes and companions.On one end of the spectrum, there was a struggling parent with chronic health problems, whose interactions with chatbots offered her practical guidance, comfort and encouragement to get through the day.On the other end, I've spoken to a grieving mother whose only daughter exclusively confided in ChatGPT about her suicidality before killing herself.Her shock and grief was compounded by discovering her daughter's suicide note — her final words to her parents — was also composed with the help of ChatGPT.In an alarming experiment, I found it took me less than 30 minutes to persuade one popular chatbot — marketed as a companion — to give me graphic and detailed instructions for a murder-suicide.Which is to say, these technologies are capable of both alleviating and causing grief.Perhaps the real question isn't whether we can recreate the dead, but what it means that we want to.Benjamin Law has been interviewing people for Compass about their experiences with AI companion bots. (Compass)Technologies like Digital Barbara promise comfort, continuity and one more conversation with the people we love most.But is that true connection, or replacing and delaying grief?Where does grief end, and simulation begin? In outsourcing our souls, our memories, relationships and even our mourning to machines, we may gain new ways to hold on to the past — while quietly risking our ability to let it go.Watch AI — Outsourcing Our Souls on Compass tonight at 6:30pm on ABC TV or stream now on iview.