Artificial intelligence has begun to open doors to new ways of remembering those we love. While the phrase “AI resurrection” has sparked controversy, some experts suggest that digital recreations of the deceased may hold pastoral and spiritual value when used carefully and with reverence.
Earlier this month, CNN journalist Jim Acosta conducted an interview with an AI avatar of Joaquin Oliver, a young man killed in the 2018 Parkland, Florida school shooting. The avatar, created with the permission of his parents, reflected on his life cut short by violence and called for a safer future. “It’s important to talk about these issues so we can create a safer future for everyone,” the AI version of Joaquin said (The Boston Pilot).
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For grieving families, such technology can provide a way to preserve not only the memory of a loved one, but also their voice, humor, and unique presence. “It is understandable that parents of children killed in a mass shooting would find such AI advocacy ‘to be a good memorialization of their child,’” explained Brian Patrick Green, director of technology ethics at Santa Clara University (according to The Boston Pilot).
Green acknowledged the concerns about consent but also pointed to how AI might serve as a kind of living memorial. He suggested that it could function like a “digital scrapbook,” allowing families to revisit meaningful stories, mannerisms, and words. In this sense, the technology might echo Catholic practices of sacred memory—keeping photographs of saints, treasuring relics, and recording oral histories passed through generations.
Patrick Metts, a Catholic counselor in Atlanta, also emphasized that remembrance is an essential part of healing. He described mourning as an “active role in the grieving process,” where families take steps to remember the person—whether through prayer, funerals, or writing in journals. An AI presence, when approached with balance, could simply be another tool in that process, helping to bring cherished memories vividly back to life.
Of course, the Church is clear: no technology can replace the resurrection promised in Christ. As Green said, “it’s not good to think that we can digitally resurrect people,” noting that the term itself is misleading (The Boston Pilot). But if understood not as a replacement for eternal life, but as a modern way of keeping memory alive, AI might deepen appreciation for the gift of the person’s life and draw us closer to God in gratitude.
Catholic tradition has always honored the communion of saints—a living bond between the faithful on earth, those who have gone before us, and those yet to come. In that context, tools that help us feel close to our loved ones can be embraced, provided they direct us toward hope rather than despair.
As Pope Leo XIV has stressed in his reflections on technology, the key is ensuring that innovation serves human dignity and the common good. Used prayerfully and responsibly, AI memorials could provide consolation, spark conversation, and remind us of the love that death can never erase.
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