AI reshapes memorial practices across East Asia
Al Jazeera’s 101 East examines the use of AI avatars, DNA gems and other technologies to memorialise loved ones in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.
New technologies are changing how some people in East Asia memorialise deceased loved ones, according to an investigation by Al Jazeera’s 101 East.
The programme examines innovators in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan who are using AI avatars, DNA gems and other digital or material forms of memorialisation. These technologies are designed to preserve or recreate connections with people who have died.
101 East places the trend within the context of rapidly ageing populations and limited burial space across the three societies. The programme says those pressures are contributing to a growing market for alternative memorialisation services.
The investigation raises a central question about whether digital representations and material memorials can support the grieving process or make it more difficult. It does not establish whether the technologies improve or harm grieving outcomes.
The technologies do not restore biological life. Instead, they create digital representations or physical memorials that offer new ways to remember those who have died.
