The simulation of the deceased through AI-based griefbots, avatars and data-driven memory tools has opened a new frontier at the intersection of technology and bioethics. This commentary examines the ethical implications of digital immortality — the replication of aspects of a person’s identity beyond death — with particular attention to autonomy, narrative authorship and the integrity of grief. Drawing on philosophical traditions, clinical models of mourning and recent critiques from cyberthanatology, it analyses six ethical domains through a structured reasoning approach.

It argues that ethical remembrance should prioritise dignity over digital continuity and calls for anticipatory consent mechanisms, clearer safeguards for AI-based mourning tools and greater interdisciplinary engagement with cyberthanatology. Ultimately, it advocates a renewed commitment to death ethics in the digital age, grounded in the principle that “authenticity cannot be uploaded and dignity cannot be downloaded”.