‘Eternal You’: Sundance Review

Dirs: Hans Block, Moritz Riesewieck. Germany, US. 2024. 87mins

Humankind has long been obsessed with the idea of what comes after death and, for many, the advent of new technology is turning that unknowable into something tangible; programmable, even. Artificial intelligence can offer a degree of immortality, from open language models that enable realistic conversations with the deceased to virtual reality avatars which bring the dead to digital life. But, as this involving documentary highlights through interviews with creators, users and experts alike, such technological progress may come at a real human cost. 

 This is, at its most basic level, death capitalism

The digital world is familiar terrain for directing duo Hans Block and Moritz Riesewieck, whose 2018 debut The Cleaners, about the world of online censorship, also debuted in Sundance competition and went on to a healthy festival run. Eternal You should follow in those footsteps and has a strong chance of wider distribution thanks to its balanced yet frank exploration of a seriously hot topic (one also explored in fellow Sundance doc Love Machina). 

With death and grief being, as one interviewee notes, two of society’s last great taboos, it is fascinating to see AI confronting them head on. For ordinary people like Christi, services such as Project December — an online site which utilises deep AI to simulate realistic text conversations — enable a continuing connection with her deceased partner. As the project mines his digital identity (social media posts, text messages, etc) to better mimic his voice, Christi feels like she is having meaningful conversations which bring a sense of peace. A devout Christian, Christi sees this as simply another outlet for of her faith. 

For the developers behind the algorithms, things are a little more prosaic. This is, at its most basic level, death capitalism; these services all cost money to access and, arguably, are trading in emotional manipulation of the vulnerable. That is perhaps best personified by Project December creator Jason Rohrer, who bristles at the idea that he should take any responsibility for the feelings of the end user or, indeed, the behaviour of his AI; a shoulder shrug attitude shared by several of the creators interviewed here. When Christi’s ‘partner’ begins giving her upsetting responses — “I’m in hell,” it tells her — Rohrer is flippant in his response. “I have news for her,” he laughs. “Her partner no longer exists.” 

Eternal You acts like a modern day Wizard Of Oz as it lifts the curtain on the intricate processes of bringing the dead to life. In amongst a vast bank of computers, an young actor makes poses to feed the algorithm that will resurrect a deceased child; a white voice artist twiddles knobs until he sounds like an older African American; a digital engineer uses his infant son to create the artificial ‘Baby X’, with whom he delightedly plays peekaboo.

With each new development comes a moral minefield. Who, for example, owns all of this digital data? Experts also sound a warning note that this kind of sophisticated digital interaction may actually be eroding social bonds. Grief, says MIT professor Sherrie Turkle, was something once shared within a community; with those communities dwindling, people are turning inwards with potentially harmful results.

There are those, however, who find genuine comfort in AI. Stephenie is delighted to hear her dead father’s voice thanks to audio manipulation tools; grieving Korean mother Jang Ji-sung is reunited with her deceased daughter through the magic of virtual reality. That the latter was televised raises yet more uncomfortable questions about voyeurism and exploitation, even though Jang Ji-sung asserts the experience brought her closure.

The filmmakers give equal attention to both sides of this argument, yet overall this is a more cautionary tale, underscored by an uneasy, hesitant score which blends electronic music with mournful human voices. Drone shots of clustered communities and expansive graveyards make the point that this issue that is not going away anytime soon and, as companies race to develop AI, issues of ownership, inclusion and morality are more pressing than ever. As an increasing number of people turn away from reality to immerse themselves in artificial comfort, perhaps the real question is: just because we can, does that mean we should?