New digital technologies including AI have started to find a place in the grieving process, sometimes alongside more traditional religious rituals. ‘Grief tech’ concepts are springing up across the world, aiming to mask the finality of death for those left behind.

Nkem Ifejika, a Christian who lost his mother three years ago, samples some grief tech products. He meets Stephen Smith, creator of StoryFile, a system which enables him to interact with his late mother almost as if he was asking her questions in the here and now. Japanese media artist Etsuko Ichihara has developed a robot that mirrors the physical personality, speech and gestures of a person who has died. And Justin Harrison has been working on recreating the essence of his late mother’s personality. But do all these technologies just mask the finality of death?