Throughout human history the desire to communicate with the dead has informed our interpretation of life itself. From the necromancy of the ancient world to the spiritualist movement of the nineteenth century, the concept of speaking to the dead has taken many shapes in its attempted practice, and, in turn, lent to cultural responses ranging from strict prohibitions to enthusiastic endorsements. Today, AI is being used in private and commercial applications to extend communications with the deceased through text- and video-based communications—many of which purport to voice and embody the recently living, those who have left a digital footprint. This presentation addresses the current uses of AI applications for mediumship and the ethical questions regarding the use of emerging technologies to chart and manifest relationships with the deceased. By extension, it asks whether AI mediumship has the power to reimagine our very conceptions of life and death.

Dr. Emily L. Spratt is an art historian, data scientist, and strategic advisor. She is a lecturer in the Department of Art History and Archaeology at Columbia University and a visiting professor at the Institute of World Politics. She earned her doctorate in Byzantine and Renaissance art history from Princeton University and completed her post-doctoral research in artificial intelligence at the Columbia Data Science Institute. Currently, she is writing two books, one on generative AI, ethics, and art, and the other—based on her dissertation—on the artistic and cultural legacy of Byzantium in the early modern period. Outside of academia, Dr. Spratt is a strategic advisor and has collaborated with persons and entities such as the G20 Summit on AI and cultural heritage, Bottega Veneta on AI and the visual arts, Alain Passard and L’Arpège on The Gastronomic Algorithms, The Campari Group and Unit9 Production on Fellini Forward, Artory on blockchain and the art market, the Art and AI Lab at Rutgers University on the AICAN art collection, and AmazeWallet on Eternal Fuji with Tetsuya Komuro. Recognized by the Office of President Emmanuel Macron for her pioneering research in AI, especially as it is applied to the arts, Dr. Spratt was honored to have been the inaugural art curator for the Global Forum on AI for Humanity in Paris. She is also a regular media commentator and her opinions have been sought by the Washington Post, CBS News, The Telegraph, The Times, Nasdaq, NewsNation, CBC Radio, Agence France-Presse, Chosun Media, and other news outlets.