This BBC piece warns that Russia’s booming use of AI to “resurrect” dead soldiers is blurring the line between grieving and propaganda, with real emotional risks for families and disturbing political implications.
Relatives of men killed or missing in Ukraine are commissioning short AI videos and images that show soldiers coming home, embracing their families, or ascending to heaven as angelic defenders. These clips can feel comforting in the moment, but experts warn that turning the dead into glossy, heroic avatars erases Ukraine’s suffering and may distort how loss and responsibility are processed.
Creators, influencers and small entrepreneurs are monetizing this grief, charging for “farewell videos” that some Russians praise as healing while others warn are exploitative and morally wrong.
Experts in digital ethics and psychology say we are in the middle of a live experiment with no clear idea of the long‑term impact. They warn that these “digital afterlife” avatars may just as easily deepen pain as ease it, giving people an illusion of reunion without helping them accept loss.
Some bereaved parents and spouses told the BBC the videos did nothing to heal them while others cling to them as a fragile sense of connection. Taken together, the piece warns that while AI memorials can feel like solace, they risk distorting memory, masking the reality of war, and turning private mourning into an ethically fraught spectacle.
