Immortality In Metaverse: Exploring Social, Legal & Psychological Challenges

As stated by various spiritual texts followed worldwide, 'The soul is immortal'. Aligning with this sentiment, nations have diligently endeavoured to elevate living and health standards, thereby increasing life expectancy- one of the primary goals of the World Health Organisation (WHO) since its establishment in 1948. World Health Statistics Report 2023 showcases that 1950 life expectancy has increased from 46.5 years in 1950 to approximately 73.0 years in 2019 and, despite the setback caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, it is projected to reach 77.0 years by WHO's 100th anniversary in 2048. In the quest to improve life expectancy across the globe, today's generation, in the imperative to devise new ways to keep humans alive longer, came up with an alternative to digital immortality in the metaverse.

This research paper delves into the unprecedented conundrums that may arise when immortality in the digital sphere materialises with the help of autonomous AI units that will operate independently. It may lead to posthumous data privacy concerns, identity manipulation, regulatory framework and the onus of liability when the autonomous avatars engage in plausible wrongful acts of alienating from the conscience of their late user owing to the continuous evolution of the real world and the functionality of the AI Algorithm. Posthumous global data protection laws vary across the globe, and due to the transcending borders of the metaverse and the unrestricted nature of autonomous avatars, it becomes essential to come up with a uniform global framework to recognise the rights and regulate the actions of such autonomous AI units. Moreover, it can give rise to an entirely new community of AI humans, which marks the inception of a pandemonium that may fall out of human control. Thus, this research paper will thoroughly analyse the sociological, legal and psychological conundrums and implications that emerge as a result of the convergence of an immersive digital world with self-sustaining AI units, if not regulated responsibly.

immortality in metaverse

Humans have endured the search for immortality ever since the inception of humankind. This could be reflected in the form of fame that the homo sapiens have strived to achieve since ancient times through their creative works of art, race to immortality by athletes, building monuments and memorials by countless deceasedrulers, thereby leaving behind the impression for centuries to witness the imprints left behind. In contemporary times, the evolution of information technology in the form of Web 2.0 empowered users to interact, collaborate, connect and share digital information. When a user dies, the user leaves behind a trail of information known as digital footprints. Users' personal and public information is stored on the digital databases over the internet in the form of metadata that constitutes their digital legacy. This entire arrangement leads to 'Digital Immortality'.

The evolution of Artificial intelligence has made it possible for people to interactwith a dead user's profile posthumously. AI tools formulate, process, and synthesise the data available of the late user on the internet and use it to generate replies similar to the deceased's behavioural pattern. Recently, Microsoftpatented a chatbot that lets you talk to dead people. When combined with the metaverse, this technology can pave the way for the possibility of immortality in metaverse. Even if a user dies physically, user's AI avatar (avatar) can continue to exist in the metaverse autonomously and perform its functions without the consent or permission of the deceased user. Avatar synthesises the past feed and data records based on the user's behavioural patterns when alive, covering every facet and ranging from body language, facial expression, and decision-making patterns. The possibility of immortality in the metaverse is still under consideration, but when implemented, it can be envisaged to be a thrilling concept. However, it subsequently poses a wave of complications encompassing social, legal, and psychological challenges at the time of its adoption.

Social Implications

1. Autonomy of avatar

Immortality in the metaverse raises a wave of complex issues and concerns, one of which is the autonomy of the avatar after the user dies in the real world. As technology advances, avatars in the metaverse can gain significant autonomy using AI tools. They can simulate interactions similar to the deceased user's personality traits and behaviour through metadata including their voice, facial expressions, idiolect, preferences and even their decision-making patterns to maintain their continuous presencein the digital realm after the user ceases to exist in the physical world. This could perhaps result in unregulated conduct of the avatar in the metaverse. Although, the autonomous behaviour of the avatar might provide a sense of relief and belonging to the friends and family members of the deceased persons, living up to the initial purpose of the evolution of the concept of immortality in metaverse. Nevertheless, granting autonomous status to avatars, places responsibility upon the creators and managers of the metaverse to determine and establish clear boundaries for the avatars' behaviour.

2. Deviation from human conscience

There can be serious challenges regarding the authenticity and legitimacy of these interactions in lieu of the self-learning ability of the AI algorithm, which can potentially deviate the avatar from its user's moral conscience. It can learn and adapt new information and evolve new decision-making patterns based on interaction with the digital world, generating behaviours that the user does not approve of. The behaviours that do not align with the ethical values of the deceased user, such as engaging in wrongful acts of criminal behaviour, can pose plausible threats to the goodwill of the deceased user in society. Thus, the main challenge for the creators is to balance the avatars' autonomous and adaptive abilities and regulate their actions to remain within the purview of ethical and social boundaries demarcated by the deceased user, along with adapting to new developments in both the real and digital world. The threats posed by the self-learning ability of the avatar can be averted by programming the avatars so that it terminates the synthesisation and learning of newer data as soon as the user is dead.

3. Notion of life and death

The rightto life and humane death are fundamental human entitlements, and endeavours to prolong one's lifespan should be actively pursued. The notion of 'eternal life' and 'after life' has been perceived by many religions and spiritual leaders. Analogously, science has materialised this notion in the form of digital immortality. 'Immortality in Metaverse' emerges as a revolutionary concept of transhumanism, a movement that aims to transform human lives to enhance and extend them.

If put to use judiciously, it can prove to be a ray of hope in cases where euthanasia becomes the ultimate requirement, and the lives of such patients or people can be preserved in a cherish able manner. It can transform the notion of life by providing specially-abled people with an opportunity to live in a real-life-like environment digitally through metaverse and, subsequently, the notion of death by enabling people to exercise their rightto die, providing a haven for their loved ones to fall back on.

Legal Challenges

1. Onus of liability

It becomes eminent to determine the onus of liability when the avatar engages in a wrongful act. This, in turn, raises a debatable question: who shall be held liable for the acts of the avatar of a deceased user: the platform, the avatar, the deceased user, family members or closely associated persons? The answer to the aforesaid question poses a challenge in the domain of metaverse as the applicability of the existing law system is not fit to execute the wrong committed by the avatars in the metaverse.

To constitute a crime, four fundamental elementsof crime are to be present mandatorily, namely, act by a human being, presence of mens rea (malafide intention), actus reus (illegal act or omission) and an injury as a consequence of the act. These elements are indispensable to prove an act of criminal wrong in a court of law. However, when dealing with the wrongful acts of such avatars in the metaverse, the mens rea may not exist as the user is already dead and avatars could possibly learn such acts from their deceased user's data or while interacting within the digital ecosystem of the metaverse.

AI systems, as of now, have failed in distinguishing right from wrong, as corroborated by the recent cases of an AI robot named 'Muhammad' harassing a female reporter in UAE and the rape of a 16-year old girl within the digital realm. Scholars have come up with the concept of qualifying AI robots as legal entities and holding such entities liable for the offences committed by them.

Drawing inspiration from such instances, a similar line of reasoning could be used to affix avatars with the status of legal entities, thus making them liable for their actions. The wrongful acts of an avatar are entirely digital, yet they can have severepsychological trauma on the victim. Pertaining to the future use of hapticdevices which will further blur the line between digital and physical altercations and make it possible for the users to feel the sensations in case they're touched or groped in the metaverse though it's only sensual, not physical.^[6] Section 75 of the Bharatiya Nyaay Sanhita, 2023 lays down that physical contact isn't necessary for an act amounting to sexual harassment; however, whether an act committed against an avatar of victim can amount to an offence under the aforesaid circumstances remains unclear.

2. Privacy violation

Digital immortality in the metaverse is a travestyof the right to privacy and ownership of one's data. An avatar has access to all the private information and digital data of its deceased user, ultimately falling onto the discretion of their avatar, which, if misused or mishandled by the avatar will expose the user to serious posthumous data privacy concerns. Moreover, determining whether the avatar can distinguish between sensitive personal data and usual data remains unexplored.

A deceased user's identity can be stolen and misused, seriously injuring the reputation of a dead person. Another alarming concern regarding the data of the dead is the inheritance of the digital assets of a person, should their legal heirs inherit them as in the case of physical assets or should they be in the custody of their avatar, which can now enter into transactions and interact without needing its user. Currently, India has come with a recent legislation, 'DigitalPersonal Data Protection Act, 2023', which gives the right to nominate any other individual who shall, in the event of death or incapacity of the Data Principal^, exercise the rights of the Data Principal to only deal with handling sensitive personal data by data fiduciaries. Similarly, the United Kingdom's DataProtection Act 2018 talks about the rights of the dead person over their personal data, “right to erasure or right to be forgotten'' and providing outlines for the processing of a person's personal data. Being progressive and accommodative, these laws still cannot be regarded as sufficient when dealing with the unchartered territory of the metaverse, which comes with the caveat of uncertainties.

3. Digital Assets: transfer and succession

Data in the digital realm comes in countless forms comprising one's online bank account, cryptocurrency assets, social media accounts, personal blog or digital journal, all of which form one's digitalestate. However, not all of the digital assets that we regularly access can be considered as ours. For instance, our social media accounts like X, Facebook, Instagram, etc. are subject to the terms of use of contract that do not fall under the category of one's own assets. Assets owned by the user can be transferred via will, or if no will has been created, they are transferred to the legal heir, similar to the case of physical property.

Surprisingly, when the user's avatar becomes autonomous after his death, the possibility of the avatar succeeding the user and all the digital assets being transferred to the avatar instead of the biological heir remains questionable. Alternatively, the assets could be distributed between the biological heir and the avatar according to the user's wishes.

Psychological Implications

The father of psychology, Emile Durkheim beautifully quoted, “Reality seems valueless by comparison with the dreams of fevered imaginations; reality is therefore abandoned.” This accurately fits in today's world, where people have started actively using metaverse, a world of whims and fancies more than their real lives, and are ignorant of the potential risks involved.

1. Digital self v/s real self

Would you want your close allies and family members to see your Google search history or private information? Our online presence often differs from our real selves, especially on anonymous platforms. Our persona may not align with our digital footprint, like search histories, deleted chats, or transaction records. This discrepancy can leave avatars vulnerable to revealing sensitive data of their deceased users. Moreover, as seen in the case of GTA, an intensely popular virtual reality game, unregulated and unrestricted platforms can induce significant criminal behaviour among its users, providing them with a haven to commit acts they would not generally perform in the real world. Avatar, far from the idea of the real-world personality of a person, accesses and uses such private information and behavioural patterns of the user in the metaverse and induces criminal behaviour of the deceased user if the user was engaged in such acts previously, as a precedent to simulate their behaviour on acquiring autonomy which can have a profound impact on the victim of such wrongful act, the family of the deceased and the entire community of metaverse users at large.

2. Revisiting your loved ones

Let it be a tearful reunion between a mother and her deceased 7-year-old daughter who was recreated through VR as a digital avatar modelled upon a child actor using photos and memories from her mother or Kim Kardashian's father wishing her on her 40^th birthday, even when he passed away in 2003, technology has come a long way of exploiting emotions in the human realm. The amalgamation of metaverse with AI has made it possible for humans to interact with their loved ones after their death, averting a wave of sudden loneliness and distress. Users can preserve the ethics, ideas, memories and even the values of their predecessors in the form of their avatars and seek emotional support and guidance when needed.

However, the backdrop of this technology is the emotional commitment that we invest in these digital representations. Users form a profound virtual connection with these entities which can, at times, significantly hinder the grieving process and lack of acceptance after the loss of a loved one. Furthermore, serious concerns emerge about the authenticity of the behaviour and values of the autonomous avatar. With the inception of the AI revolution, virtual connections have startedtaking over real physical connections^, and soon people will start finding solace in their late friends who are alive in the form of digital avatars leading to several issues related to one's emotional and mental wellbeing.

The implications posed by the evolution of the concept of immortality in the metaverse are pressing and raise significant questions concerning the regulations within this digital realm. Metaverse transcends all boundaries of time and space and even of life and death in the future. No country has defined borders or territory within the metaverse, raising concerns about the accountability and traceability of the avatar in case the victim and the accused belong to different nations. It will redefine the meaning of mortality and unveil the possibility of living forever, posing a serious jurisdictional challenge before humanity.

European Union is one of the flagbearers that has formulated a strategy to regulate metaverse. World nations must come together to have a unanimous global framework and regulations to turn the vice of 'Immortality in Metaverse' into the virtue of digital world, thus empowering the states to exercise equal jurisdiction over the entire digital realm of the metaverse. After the comparative analysis of social, legal and psychological challenges, there are certain suggestions that, when included in a uniform global framework, will make immortality much more suited for future generations to use.

• Barring the autonomy of the avatars exercising rights over the personal data of the deceased users for two reasons: data privacy and the avatar's self-learning ability.

Although laws on transferring personal data to the legal nominee exist, a law should come into force for nominating the right to any other human being to regulate deceased user's avatar. Moreover, the self-learning ability of avatar in the metaverse after the user's demise must be curbed by estoppel as it could possibly lead to the erasure of the original personality of the deceased avatar.

• Detailed guidelines are to be brought in for appropriate training of AI avatars to teach them the difference between right and wrong, considering humanity's moral and ethical scale.
• Laws shall be made exhaustive to clearly define the onus of liability when the deceased user's avatar commits wrongful acts.

Removing such uncertainties and vagueness in the undefined territory of the metaverse and outlining the extent of human involvement will transform it into an abode for future generations to flourish and utilise the full potential of immortality in the metaverse.

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