Introduction

Millions of profiles of the dead haunt the internet. What do we do with all these digital souls? Can we simply delete them? Or do they have a right to persist? What does it mean for the self now that digital technologies are transforming the notion of legacy, and in the future, how you will persist beyond your own death?

Today, I speak with Patrick Stokes, Associate Professor of Philosophy at Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia. His work sits at the intersections of the continental and analytic traditions with research interests that include personal identity, narrative selfhood, and philosophy of religion. I'm also joined by Elaine Kasket, counselling psychologist, a speaker and author with a BA Honours in Journalism and Psychology. 

This episode of The Future of You covers:

• Whether we can and should attempt to manage our online legacies after death.
• How deep fake and AI generated material using the deceased will impact our understanding of history.
• The death of nostalgia and technology’s enthusiasm for the music of the past.
• Will the truth be replaced with the telically possible?
• Who controls our digital afterlife?
• The therapeutic possibilities of digitally reanimating the dead.

The Future of You: Can Your Identity Survive 21st Century Technology?: www.amazon.co.uk/Future-You-Identity-21st-Century-Technology-ebook/dp/B08XBN4GBB

Links and references at: www.traceyfollows.com