AI Deathbots : A harmless way to live eternally?

AI is opening up a door to digital eternal life: what does it mean for those who remain, and those who are gone?

On Tuesday, November 10th, we’ll gather at Day1 Coworking in Taipei for a conversation about one of the more unsettling possibilities opened up by generative AI: the creation of “deathbots” or digital replicas of people who have died.

As AI systems become increasingly capable of mimicking our language, memories, opinions, voices, and personalities, it is becoming possible to imagine a chatbot that allows us to continue interacting with someone after their death. These systems might offer comfort to grieving families, preserve aspects of a person’s identity, or provide a way for future generations to encounter the thoughts and stories of those who came before them.

But what exactly would such a system preserve? Would it be a form of memorial, a new kind of relationship, or simply an elaborate simulation? And who has the right to decide whether someone should be recreated digitally? The conversation will bring together philosophical, ethical, and technological perspectives on deathbots, digital identity, and the possibility of living on through data.

Speakers

Alexandre Erler

Alexandre Erler is a philosopher whose work explores the ethical implications of scientific and technological developments with the potential to profoundly transform society and the human condition, particularly advances in artificial intelligence and neuroscience. He earned his doctorate in Philosophy from the University of Oxford, where he was affiliated with the Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics. He is now an Associate Professor at the Institute of Philosophy of Mind and Cognition, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, in Taipei. His current research focuses on the philosophical, ethical, and political challenges raised by emerging AI technologies, including their implications for human rights, respect for persons (including the deceased), and democracy. His recent work examines the ethics of AI-generated representations of real people, such as digital recreations of the deceased, commonly known as "deathbots."

Profile

Andrew Fai

Andrew Fai is an AI-native systems architect and co-founder of Asia Blockchain Summit (ABS), the marquee blockchain event that brought global talent and investment to Taiwan. He helped jumpstart Taiwan’s crypto ecosystem, building from 10-person coffee-shop meetups to a 15,000-attendee summit, with speakers including Binance’s CZ, Vitalik Buterin, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

Today, Andrew builds with AI agents and writes about memory, identity, and human agency. An “ontologist by day, sociologist by night,” he is the author of Make Death an Option. His ambition is to make living forever possible while keeping death a protected choice. For this conversation, he brings a precise question: if an AI remembers your life and speaks in your voice, have you continued, or has something of you been left behind?

Writing: “Make Death an Option”

Moderator: Alix Zerd

Alix Zerd leads the Taipei chapter of The AI Collective and works across technology, culture, art, and civic participation. He will moderate the conversation, bringing the speakers into dialogue and helping unpack both the philosophical questions and the practical implications of deathbots.

What we’ll explore

• What makes a digital replica feel like a continuation of a person?

• Can consent meaningfully survive death?

• Who should control a person’s digital remains?

• Could deathbots help us process grief, or would it make it harder to let go?

• Is a digital afterlife something we would want for ourselves?

Format

This event will be structured as a moderated conversation between Alexandre Erler and Andrew Fai, followed by audience questions and informal discussion. We will try to think seriously about what it would mean to live, remember, and relate to one another in a world where death may no longer mark the complete end of a person’s presence, physically or digitally.

Schedule

6:00 PM · Doors open and check-in
6:30 PM · Welcome and introduction
6:40 PM · Moderated conversation 7:45 PM · Audience Q&A
8:00 PM · Networking and informal discussion
9:00 PM · Event ends

​Event details

Date: Tuesday, November 10th, 2026
Time: 6:00 PM–9:00 PM
Location: Day1 Coworking
Language: English, with live translation to Chinese
Format: In-person conversation and audience Q&A
Cost: Free with 1 mandatory drink purchase
Organizers: The AI Collective Taipei

About Day 1 Co-Working space:

Day 1 is a community-first coworking and creator space in Taipei's Da'an District, three minutes from Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall MRT. It is built for people who refuse to coast: founders, freelancers, small teams testing the next thing, and remote workers who want conversation rather than silence.

The name comes from the idea that Day 1 is a mindset rather than a stage. It is available to someone who hasn't registered a company yet and to someone three years in with a team of three — anyone still willing to test, be wrong quickly, and start again.

What makes it unusual is who runs it. Day 1 is operated by entrepreneurs who have built and exited companies in Asia, are on Day 1 of their own next venture, and are in the space rather than behind a management company. Members get weekly mentor permanence, pitch and feedback nights, member showcases and first-customer sessions alongside desks, meeting rooms and phone booths. Memberships start at NT$2,800 a month (excluding VAT), with a NT$400 day pass.

Please be advised: Unfortunately, space is very limited at these community events and we can not always accept everyone we would like to. If you are not accepted to this event, please keep applying! We appreciate your application tremendously and we are looking forward to seeing you at a future event very soon!

The AI Collective is a global non-profit building the human layer for the AI era. We unite 200,000+ leaders, builders, and stakeholders across 100+ forums worldwide to democratize the frontier, build trust, and coordinate how society navigates the rapid acceleration of technological progress.

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