From Seances to Grief Bots: The History of Spiritualism and AI in Mourning

Overview

This piece from The Conversation traces the arc from nineteenth-century spiritualism to contemporary grief technology, showing how death was reframed as a communicable event through mediums, seances, and spirit photography. It highlights Victorian mourning cultures, Civil War losses in the United States, and the appeal of spiritualism to those in grief, before turning to today’s grief tech—AI grief bots, postmortem avatars, and VR reunions—that promise ongoing connection with the deceased.

• Origins of spiritualism in the 19th century and Victorian mourning rituals
• Spirit photography, Mary Todd Lincoln, Mumler, and fraud skepticism
• Transition to grief tech: AI grief bots, avatars, VR experiences
• Ethical concerns around consent, privacy, and exploitation

Author: The Conversation

Origins of Modern Spiritualism

Modern spiritualism began in the 19th century as a religious movement that sought to reunite the living with the dead. Central to its practice was the belief that death was not an absolute end, but a transition into a spiritual realm. Practitioners often claimed to contact the deceased through a medium, a person who could purportedly bridge the physical and spiritual worlds. The Movement drew on biblical references to spiritual communications and integrated them with mysticism and science, appealing to those disenchanted with traditional Christian institutions. In this account, spiritualism emerged not merely as superstition but as a transformative approach to grief, offering a channel for conversation with those who had died.

Victorian Mourning and Rituals

Novelties attached to death in Victorian Britain—such as extended mourning periods, elaborate funerals, identified dress codes, and keepsakes—shaped a culture in which loss could be publicly managed and visibly ongoing. Mourning dress, ceremonial practices, and the display of memorial items created a public theatre of grief. The era also popularized keepsake photographs, including memento mori images, that captured the deceased or suggested ongoing presence. Within this cultural climate, spiritualism offered a means to continue interactions with the deceased, providing comfort to mourners overwhelmed by loss.

Spirit Photography and Notable Figures

The movement gained traction in the United States in part due to the Civil War, which produced mass casualty and widespread grief. Spirit photography became a distinctive and persuasive medium for those seeking closure. The first spirit photo, captured by William Mumler in 1861 in Boston, drew bereaved visitors to his studio, where a familiar face of the dead seemed to appear beside the living. Mumler’s practice faced fraud charges in 1869 but was acquitted for lack of evidence. He later photographed Mary Todd Lincoln with the apparitional image of Abraham Lincoln, a combination that amplified public interest in séances and spirit photography. These images were powerful because they offered a tangible likeness of the dead at a time when photographic likenesses of the deceased were unlikely, providing mourners with a balm and sense of presence.

Seances, Mediums, and Methods

Spiritualists used diverse methods to make contact with the spirit world, with séances featuring knocks, table levitation, raps, and spirit photography. These rituals provided reassurance in moments of grief, acting as a tangible bridge between the living and the departed. The era’s dramatized rituals helped sustain the movement’s appeal even as some observers questioned the authenticity of the contact.

Our 21st-century ghosts

Today, digital technologies preserve human identities through phones, cameras, and social media. Proponents argue that grief platforms—often framed as grief tech—attempt to fill the gaps left by bereavement, with systems ranging from text-based interactions to full video calls. Technologies described as grief bots, AI ghosts, or postmortem avatars aim to extend the possibility of contact beyond traditional media. Some offerings, like You, Only Virtual, allow users to create and interact with a virtual personality for ongoing engagement with a lost loved one, typically on a subscription basis. The article notes that grief tech has broadened the toolkit for coping with loss and introduces questions about privacy and data use, as well as the potential for exploitation or commodification of grief during a vulnerable period.

Crossovers with VR and AI

In 2020, a South Korean documentary Meeting You showcased a grieving mother attempting to touch the projection of her deceased daughter using a VR headset and gloves, a scene reminiscent of Victorian-era attempts to reach glowing apparitions. Since then, grief tech has proliferated, expanding access to a range of budgets. Instances of AI-generated imagery and voices of deceased service members have become more common in some contexts, illustrating the new modalities of memorialization that extend beyond traditional photography or spoken messages.

Ethics, Consent, and the Psychology of Grief

The article frames ongoing ethical concerns about AI grief bots. Questions center on consent—whether the deceased can consent in any meaningful sense, and whether the living can rightfully reconstruct a person’s life data to serve the needs of others. Privacy concerns arise from the data required to recreate a deceased person’s voice, likeness, and memories. The piece notes that debates around consent for postmortem data exist in research ethics and digital rights discussions, and highlights the risk that grief services can become subscription-based, echoing Victorian-era patronage models. Beyond privacy, readers are urged to consider how grief tech alters the grieving process and whether it might prolong or complicate the emotional work of letting go. The piece closes with a cautionary comparison to criminal spiritualists of the 19th century, drawing a thread from historical exploitation to contemporary concerns about profiteering from pain.

Conclusion

The rise of grief tech creates a modern parallel to historical spiritualism: a persistent human desire to ease the pain of loss through contact with the dead. While the technology promises new ways to remember, comfort, and connect, it also raises urgent questions about consent, data ethics, and the potential for exploitation. The article ends by urging careful ethical reflection and, in the absence of clear data about long-term effects, to approach grief tech with a measured, critical eye.

Notable References and Context

Readers are directed to related pieces such as Should AI be allowed to resurrect the dead? and to case studies like the South Korean documentary Meeting You to understand how digital media and VR are shaping contemporary experiences of mourning. The piece also draws historical connections to Victorian spiritualism and Houdini’s skepticism, underscoring recurring concerns about fraud, credulity, and the ethics of exploiting vulnerable audiences.