Talking with the dead
10. Talking with the dead
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Show: Unexplainable — Vox
Host / guest: Not listed
Focus: Agents for Everyone
Date: October 17, 2026
Duration: 36:00
Topics:
Summary: Vox’s Unexplainable examines “deadbots,” AI replicas built from a deceased person’s messages or voice, with Cambridge researchers Katarzyna Nowaczyk-Basińska and Tomasz Hollanek plus psycholinguist Julie Sedivy. The discussion surfaces consent, grief, detachment and commercialization questions without presenting simulation as resurrection. Vox supplies the episode context and transcript access; Apple confirms a 36-minute runtime. Audio was not played.
Why it matters: Before building a memorial chatbot, define consent, data rights, commercialization limits, exit mechanisms and human support, recognizing that technical fidelity cannot resolve grief ethics.
Connection to the brief: Before building a memorial chatbot, define consent, data rights, commercialization limits, exit mechanisms and human support, recognizing that technical fidelity cannot resolve grief ethics.
Coverage: Selected for this edition.
Listen / watch: Unexplainable — Vox