Imaginaries of Immortality in the Age of AI

What does it mean to cope with death, to resist it, or to imagine transcending it altogether?

As digital technologies increasingly preserve our voices, images, and messages, new forms of “digital immortality” are emerging—from AI chatbots trained on the dead to virtual avatars and memory archives. These innovations raise powerful ethical, emotional, and cultural questions about how we remember, mourn, and live on.

This interdisciplinary event presents insights from Imaginaries of Immortality in the Age of AI, a major research project led by Dr Katarzyna Nowaczyk-Basińska (University of Cambridge), based on fieldwork in Poland, India, and China between late 2024 and spring 2025. Through the project’s presentation, a short documentary, and a panel discussion, the evening explores how different cultures understand death, memory, and technology.

Guests will also experience a striking photo installation featuring portraits of participants from the project’s nine “(Im)mortality over Dinner” research gatherings. Around the table in all three locations, around 70 individuals reflected on their hopes and fears about AI and the potential for digital immortality. This event will extend these conversations and create a space for cross-cultural and transnational exchange.

Blending art, research, and conversation, the event invites everyone to reflect on a deeply personal question: what kind of digital legacy do we want to leave behind?

Photo installation and reception

After the panel discussion, a free reception with wine and light refreshments will accompany an exhibition of the photo installation by artist Tomasz Siuda, curated by Dr Katarzyna Nowaczyk-Basińska.

About the speakers

Dr Katarzyna Nowaczyk-Basińska (Principal Investigator) is an Assistant Research Professor at the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence at the University of Cambridge, with a background in social communication, theatre studies, and interactive media and performances. In her research, she explores how new technologies (re)shape our understanding of death, loss, grief, and afterlife presence. Her work intersects the fields of technology, culture, and thanatology. Since 2024, she has led the project “Imaginaries of Immortality in the Age of AI: An Intercultural Analysis”, aiming to understand the context-specific meanings of AI for our relationship to (im)mortality.

Prof Stephen Cave (Experts Workshop Moderator in Poland and China) is Academic Director of the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence and Co-Director of the Institute for Technology and Humanity, both at the University of Cambridge. His research focuses on philosophy and ethics of technology, particularly AI, robotics and life-extension. He is the author of Immortality (Crown, 2012), a New Scientist book of the year, and Should You Choose To Live Forever: A Debate (with John Martin Fischer, Routledge, 2023); and co-editor of AI Narratives (OUP, 2020), Feminist AI (OUP, 2023) and Imagining AI (OUP, 2023).

Dr Tomasz Hollanek (Experts Workshop Moderator in Poland, India and China) is an Assistant Research Professor at the Cambridge Institute for Technology and Humanity and an Affiliated Lecturer in the Department of Computer Science and Technology at the University of Cambridge, working at the intersection of AI ethics, critical design, and human-AI interaction. His current work spans three areas. First, he examines the ethics and societal implications of human-AI interaction design, focusing on AI companions and postmortem avatars (‘griefbots’). Second, he collaborates with industry and policy bodies to reform AI development practices through new design standards and policy. Third, he leads participatory and intercultural projects that strengthen public understanding of AI.

Dr Maya Indira Ganesh (Experts Workshop Moderator in India) is Associate Director (Research Culture & Partnerships), co-director of the Narratives and Justice Program, and Assistant Research Professor at the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence (CFI). From October 2021- July 2024 she was an assistant teaching professor at the Institute of Continuing Education (ICE) where she co-directed the MSt in AI Ethics and Society run jointly between ICE and CFI. Maya’s research draws on varied theoretical and methodological genres, including feminist scholarship, participatory methods, and science and technology studies approaches to examine how AI is being deployed in public, and how AI’s marginalised and expert publics shape this technology.

Dr Saide Mobayed Vega (Research Assistant) is a Fellow in Qualitative Methods at the London School of Economics, a Research Affiliate at the University of Cambridge, and a Research Assistant at the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence. Her research examines how data and digital technologies influence the concepts of truth, accountability, and justice in contexts of gender-based violence and human rights violations. She holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of Cambridge, and her work has been published in Critical Sociology, International Sociology, and Feminist Media Studies. She is also co-editor of The Routledge International Handbook on Femicide and Feminicide.

Anja Franczak (Focus Groups Moderator) is an educator in the field of dying, death and grief. She is the founder of the Institute of the Good Death, an innovative and award-winning social movement in Poland. Anja supports people in the final stages of life, people grieving the loss of a loved one, and those who work with them in hospitals, hospices and funeral homes. She is also a ritual celebrant, creating and leading personal farewell rituals and funeral ceremonies.

Tomasz Siuda (Photographer / Artist ) is a photographer, artist, and photo therapist. He is an educator, lecturer, a member of the Institute of the Good Death, and a board member of the Key for Tomorrow Foundation. He is also a co-founder and President of the Polish Phototherapy Association. Using photo-therapeutic techniques, he conducts workshops in the area of Ars Moriendi, addressing mortality and confronting emotions surrounding death and grief.

Event Agenda

13 Feb 2026, Friday

6:00 – 6:45 pm: Presentation of the project findings: Imaginaries of Immortality in the Age of AI: an Intercultural Analysis and a short documentary from the project’s fieldwork titled “AI2050”.

6:45 – 7:30 pm: Panel discussion featuring project team members: Dr Katarzyna Nowaczyk-Basińska, Dr Tomasz Hollanek, Dr Saide Mobayed Vega, and Anja Franczak; moderated by Prof. Stephen Cave.

7:30 pm – 9 pm: Photo installation by artist Tomasz Siuda, curated by Dr Katarzyna Nowaczyk-Basińska. The installation will open with a brief introduction by Anja Franczak.

Project funded by Schmidt Sciences within the AI2050 Fellowship granted to Dr Katarzyna Nowaczyk-Basińska and organised by the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence, University of Cambridge

Project partners: Institute of the Good Death, CK Zamek, Ashoka University, Beggruen Institute in China

Event co-produced with the Intellectual Forum at Jesus College, Cambridge

Photo installation partnered with Polskie Towarzystwo Fototerapeutyczne (Polish Phototherapy Association)

More information about the project can be found here: Imaginaries of Immortality in the Age of AI: an Intercultural Analysis – KNB

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