Written by
Katja Pilz
III. The Data belongs to the family.
No corporation, no algorithm, no market has a claim to the remains of a life. This is art, not séance. We are not calling anyone back. We are listening to what echoes.
The third dogma addresses ownership, control, and the growing commercialisation of death. In an era where digital remains are increasingly treated as raw material for profit, the project insists on a simple principle: the data belongs to the family. No one else.
The third dogma addresses ownership, control, and the growing commercialisation of death. In an era where digital remains are increasingly treated as raw material for profit, the project insists on a simple principle: the data belongs to the family. No one else.
The Informational Body
Öhman and Floridi (2018) argue that people are not merely owners of their data but are constituted by it. Data is not "our car" but "our body," an "informational body" that deserves the same dignity we accord to physical remains. Commodifying this informational body for profit, they argue, constitutes a form of alienation: an estrangement that is akin to aggression against human dignity. Within the next thirty years, approximately two billion people will die, leaving behind an unprecedented volume of digital remains. Whoever controls these archives controls access to the collective digital past (Öhman, 2024).
The Informational Body
Öhman and Floridi (2018) argue that people are not merely owners of their data but are constituted by it. Data is not "our car" but "our body," an "informational body" that deserves the same dignity we accord to physical remains. Commodifying this informational body for profit, they argue, constitutes a form of alienation: an estrangement that is akin to aggression against human dignity. Within the next thirty years, approximately two billion people will die, leaving behind an unprecedented volume of digital remains. Whoever controls these archives controls access to the collective digital past (Öhman, 2024).
Outside the Logic of Extraction
Hallucinations of the Unseen operates entirely outside this logic. There is no subscription, no product placement, no data harvested for commercial purposes. The archive was curated by the daughter. The family are simultaneously data recipients and interactants. There is no third party extracting value from the father's informational body. This fulfils what Öhman (2024) calls "archeopolitan duties": treating digital remains with the care worthy of an archaeological find.
Outside the Logic of Extraction
Hallucinations of the Unseen operates entirely outside this logic. There is no subscription, no product placement, no data harvested for commercial purposes. The archive was curated by the daughter. The family are simultaneously data recipients and interactants. There is no third party extracting value from the father's informational body. This fulfils what Öhman (2024) calls "archeopolitan duties": treating digital remains with the care worthy of an archaeological find.
Grief Is Not a Product
The Digital Afterlife Industry has expanded rapidly. Hollanek and Nowaczyk-Basińska (2024) document a landscape that includes memorial storytelling platforms, chatbot-based personality recreations, VR memorial environments, and scheduled message delivery services. Mladin (2024) calls the sector capitalism's "latest sinister gimmick." These services turn grief into a subscription model and memory into a revenue stream. The deceased becomes a product, the bereaved a customer.
Grief Is Not a Product
The Digital Afterlife Industry has expanded rapidly. Hollanek and Nowaczyk-Basińska (2024) document a landscape that includes memorial storytelling platforms, chatbot-based personality recreations, VR memorial environments, and scheduled message delivery services. Mladin (2024) calls the sector capitalism's "latest sinister gimmick." These services turn grief into a subscription model and memory into a revenue stream. The deceased becomes a product, the bereaved a customer.
Art, Not Séance
The framing matters. This is not a service that promises to bring someone back. It is not therapy. It is not communication with the dead. It is art: a bounded, intentional encounter with something that emerged from what was left behind. The distinction between art and séance is not aesthetic. It is ethical. Art acknowledges its own construction. A séance pretends it is real.
Art, Not Séance
The framing matters. This is not a service that promises to bring someone back. It is not therapy. It is not communication with the dead. It is art: a bounded, intentional encounter with something that emerged from what was left behind. The distinction between art and séance is not aesthetic. It is ethical. Art acknowledges its own construction. A séance pretends it is real.
References Degni, F. (2025). The Afterlife in the Age of AI. Political Science International, 3(2). Hollanek, T. & Nowaczyk-Basińska, K. (2024). Griefbots, Deadbots, Postmortem Avatars. Philosophy & Technology, 37(63). Mladin, N. (2024). AI and the Afterlife. Theos Think Tank. Stroebe, M. & Schut, H. (1999). The Dual Process Model of Coping with Bereavement. Death Studies, 23(3).
II. Every word is new. Every word was made possible by him.
by
Katja Pilz
IV. Every Interaction has an end.
by
Katja Pilz
I. Emergence, not reconstruction
Written by
Katja Pilz
I. Emergence, not reconstruction
I. Emergence, not reconstruction
II. Every word is new. Every word was made possible by him.
Written by
Katja Pilz
II. Every word is new. Every word was made possible by him.
II. Every word is new. Every word was made possible by him.
IV. Every Interaction has an end.
Written by
Katja Pilz
IV. Every Interaction has an end.
IV. Every Interaction has an end.
V. The Presence knows, it is constructed.
Written by
Katja Pilz