Russian families use AI to 'resurrect' loved ones killed in Ukraine - BBC

Since mid-2025, families of Russian soldiers have increasingly turned to AI-generated content to visualize loved ones who have been killed or have disappeared on the front lines of the war in Ukraine. These digital recreations, often shared on platforms like Instagram and TikTok, depict soldiers as heroic figures or angels, offering grieving relatives a virtual way to say goodbye or maintain a sense of connection to the deceased.

What happened

The trend involves creators using generative AI tools to animate photographs, allowing families to order custom videos and images. The content typically follows a specific aesthetic: soldiers are portrayed embracing their families, ascending into a blue sky, or appearing as ghosts from heaven. Some creators, such as Katya Jin and Anna Korableva, have turned this into a commercial service, charging between 200 and 10,000 roubles per project.

These creators often use family members' own photos as source material, applying prompts to place the subjects in specific settings or poses. In some cases, the videos include mocked-up farewell letters. While some users report that these "digital afterlife" clips provide comfort, the practice has generated significant controversy. Critics, including those who have been appalled by the erasure of the war’s destruction, label the trend as unethical and a form of profiting from grief. Researchers at the University of Cambridge note that the psychological impact of these "deadbots" remains unclear, as users are participating in an ongoing technological and cultural experiment regarding how we process loss.