Masaki Iwasaki, "Digital Cloning of the Dead: Exploring the Optimal Default Rule", Asian Journal of Law and Economics (2023.12), pp.1-29.
<Abstract>
We conducted a survey experiment in the U.S. to analyze how the consent or dissent of a deceased individual influences the social acceptability of digital resurrection. The results showed a substantial relative treatment effect of consent versus dissent, with a 2-point difference in acceptability on a 5-point scale. When the deceased had consented, 58 % of respondents viewed digital resurrection as socially acceptable, whereas this number was only 3 % when the deceased had dissented. These findings suggest that relevant legal regulations should respect the decision of the deceased. Our study then explored the optimal default rule using observational research: 59 % of respondents were against the idea of their own digital resurrection. An opt-in rule seems socially desirable, where the default is the prohibition of digital resurrection, and exceptions allow it only with consent from the deceased.
<Keywords>
digital clone; digital resurrection; deep learning; large language model; default rule
Masaki Iwasaki, "Digital Cloning of the Dead: Exploring the Optimal Default Rule", Asian Journal of Law and Economics (2023.12), pp.1-29.
<Abstract>
We conducted a survey experiment in the U.S. to analyze how the consent or dissent of a deceased individual influences the social acceptability of digital resurrection. The results showed a substantial relative treatment effect of consent versus dissent, with a 2-point difference in acceptability on a 5-point scale. When the deceased had consented, 58 % of respondents viewed digital resurrection as socially acceptable, whereas this number was only 3 % when the deceased had dissented. These findings suggest that relevant legal regulations should respect the decision of the deceased. Our study then explored the optimal default rule using observational research: 59 % of respondents were against the idea of their own digital resurrection. An opt-in rule seems socially desirable, where the default is the prohibition of digital resurrection, and exceptions allow it only with consent from the deceased.
<Keywords>
digital clone; digital resurrection; deep learning; large language model; default rule