This interesting research paper touches on the consequences of personal data shared online, a sensitive yet largely unexplored area. For example, there is the possibility that massive personal data could be used for simulating a person’s personality for good or bad. This issue at present is at a manual level; for example, people create fake IDs on social networking sites and source the picture and other details of a related profile to replicate the original. Sometimes it is done at a near perfect level, but technology applications might influence the outcome.

The focus of this paper is to examine the feasibility of creating a fake identity of a deceased person, in order to interact with the “person” by simulating his or her ideas, thoughts, reactions, and other relevant information. The usage of big data will add massive input and can possibly simulate the fake person (or simulated ID) to have an interaction with one or more people in a group. In addition to this, the simulation can further be customized, for example, based on place, time, setup, or people present. According to the author, “It is possible to create a simulation of a person because each of us can anticipate what the other person is going to say, provided that we know them sufficiently well.”

The idea of this work came up when the author heard the news of his father’s illness, which was terminal in nature; he was not going to survive for long. The author wanted to explore the possibility of his children interacting with his father after his death. The author used the Turing test, which is inspired by an imitation game, to check a few factors such as how the imitated, imitator, interlocutor, and medium of communication can influence the degree of success.

Humans have created various ways to remember a deceased person through his belongings and thoughts, but this study may add value in complementing these by determining the way in which the deceased would have responded. The author of this paper seeks an open “discussion on the subject of interacting and conversing with simulations of the deceased,” and the research sounds promising for dealing with psychological, social, and emotional issues in the future.