Funeral Arrangements

Would you arrange for a chatbot of yourself at your own funeral?

Um… No! Euw!

And Morti would be too overcome with emotion to say more than a small handful of sob-wracked words before bawling uncontrollably (at least, I like to fool myself into thinking that), so having him speak would be useless.

Besides, I don’t want folks to gather around my stiff, painted, lifeless body, mouthing meaningless platitudes to each other. I’ve already created a “party fund”, so that folks can come, listen to some music (what they want, not what I would force them to listen to), and just have a good time at my expense, just like always. By the time I kick off, there should be enough cash for a six pack of Bud and a bag or two of Doritos!

This question is based on one of the main advantages, published in artificial intelligence textbooks on expert systems.  Programming expert knowledge into rules the expert system can process, allows it to go on instead of forever being lost with the decedent.

My answer is: Yes.

I feel the need to inform everyone that, while my answer is a serious “no”, the rest of my post was engineered for entertainment purposes. I’m serious that I have a “party fund”, though. It’s in my will that there not be a funeral, memorial service, or anything of that sort. I want a party, to celebrate my life, not to mourn my death. I hate funerals!

Dave Morton - May 10, 2011:

No.

Would you want a vHuman of yourself at the funeral (telling your fav jokes, reflecting on your life, etc.), maybe even loaded into a (rented) mobile bot?!  I think it would be both really cool and really creepy- fine line, but interesting to think about.

A similar question might be: If you could have a bot at your funeral, what would it be programmed to do/say?

I think it would be a great idea but I agree it would be a little creepy.