Imaginaries of Immortality in the Age of AI: Preliminary Insights 

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?

Wine and light refreshments will be served, and the event will be livestreamed.

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.

7:45 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.

To attend, either virtually or in-person, you must register at: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/intellectualforum/2020887

 

*** 

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)