AI is increasingly being used to preserve the voices and stories of the dead. From text-based chatbots that mimic loved ones to voice avatars that let you “speak” with the deceased, it’s part of a growing “digital afterlife” industry. In order to simulate the speech patterns and personalities of the deceased, these systems draw on a person’s digital traces: the voice recordings, text messages, emails and social media posts created by them during life.

Researchers Eva Nieto McAvoy and Jenny Kidd have been exploring what it’s like to use these AI “deathbots”, even creating digital versions of themselves that could live on after they’ve gone. They write that AI can help preserve stories and voices, but it cannot replicate the living complexity of a person or, indeed, a relationship.

Director Guillermo Del Toro’s new version of Frankenstein offers a fresh take on a very different kind of resurrection. But could an assembled body really come back to life? And new research suggests that even low levels of physical activity could protect the brain from Alzheimer’s disease.