Wills Now Stipulate Love, Hate of Post-Humans

AI can replicate your face, voice, and writing after you die. Now that power has moved out of Hollywood and into everyday life, courtesy of cut-rate cloning kits and “legacy” chatbots that guarantee you the opportunity to swap words with those to come. If that’s not how you want to be remembered, you need to put some protections in place now — before others make the decision for you.

Security experts and bereavement counselors say posthumous deepfakes can fuel scams, warp a person’s values, and contribute to messy legal battles over digital identity. The good news: With clear instructions in your estate plan and a few discreet actions while you are living, you can significantly reduce the chances.

Why Posthumous Deepfakes Are A Real Risk

Generative tools can create realistic audio and video from just seconds of source material. There are consumer apps today that sell services around a “digital you,” for memorials or in interviews, or even interactive griefbots. That technology is now being misused: The Federal Trade Commission lists impostor scams as the No. 1 category of fraud by the amount of money reported lost, with some $2.7 billion in losses recently out of over $10 billion lost to all types of fraud — and voice cloning adds a doubly chilling element to those crimes when people use it to sound like a loved one and ask for money.

Laws are playing catch-up. Some states treat your image and voice as property after you die, but the level of protection varies widely. California’s post-mortem right of publicity endures for 70 years; New York erected a 40-year right and specific rules around digital replicas. In other places survivors might be left to depend on trademark, copyright, or platform policies to battle fakes.

Write Your AI Homeowner’s Wish List and Directives

Your will is the best place to establish boundaries. Define what constitutes your “likeness” (name, image, voice, likenesses and mannerisms, signature, style of speaking) and specify if any A.I.-generated use is permissible.

Experts advise language that is crystal clear, such as: “I do not consent to the creation, training, distribution, or use of any AI-generated or synthetic representation of my name, image, voice, likeness, biometric data, or writing for any purpose, commercial or noncommercial.” If you allow limited use, specify who can authorize it (and for what purposes), for how long, and with what safeguards.

Include another letter of instruction for more granular guidance (say, yes to a memorial video, no to an interactive chatbot). Your lawyer can incorporate these instructions into your state’s right-of-publicity, privacy, and estate laws.

Appoint A Digital Fiduciary And Gear Them Up

Designate a “digital fiduciary” (also known as a digital executor) to oversee your online accounts and your likeness. With your permission, fiduciaries can then access your digital assets, a provision of the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (RUFADAA), now recognized by most states. Without it, platforms fall back on their Terms of Service.

Empower this person legally in your estate documents to take down posts and send cease-and-desist letters claiming your publicity rights, as well as to direct platforms to freeze or delete accounts. Give them secure access through a password manager’s emergency access, and configure platform tools such as Apple’s Legacy Contact, Google’s Inactive Account Manager, and memorialization settings on key social networks.

Own Your Data and Image Now, Before Others Do

Lock down the raw material for a clone. Utilize state privacy laws (such as California’s CPRA) or GDPR to delete or restrict processing of your data and opt out of data broker sales. Document deletion requests so your fiduciary can reassert the same.

Embed provenance in your data. Tools built around the C2PA standard — such as Adobe’s Content Credentials — affix tamper-evident metadata, which can help your estate distinguish authentic media from fakes.

Publish a “no-AI” notice on your personal/portfolio site: disallow training, cloning, or synthetic use of your media. If you’re a creator or influencer, think about licensing terms that prohibit generative uses and pursue trademark registrations for your name or brand to bolster enforcement.

If You Give Limited Use, Set Clear Boundaries

Some people are asking for a limited memorial message or oral-history avatar, but they don’t want an open-ended chatbot. If you choose to opt in, require the following: written consent from your executor; noncommercial use by your family only (not including grandparents and grandchildren); time-limited (a frequent law term is not more than 20 years after taking effect) grants of rights; label synthetic media as such; secure storage with an access-controlled system and encryption at rest; respect provenance and watermarking. Ban reuse by third parties of political content, endorsements, and training.

Design a “kill switch” that allows your fiduciary to revoke permissions in case of harm, misuse, or platform policy changes.

Prepare an Enforcement Plan Your Executor Can Use

Provide your executor with an operational playbook: budget for surveillance, create keyword and image alerts, and leave instructions about where to send takedowns (platform impersonation portals, app store complaint channels, DMCA notices for synthetic media using your copyrighted works). Nonprofits such as the Identity Theft Resource Center and legal clinics can help families.

To the extent permitted by law, your estate has available publicity rights, consumer protection statutes, and unfair competition claims for commercial misappropriation.

Have the Family Conversation Before It’s Too Late

Grief experts warn that so-called “griefbots” could alter memories, not preserve them. Discuss with your family what would honor your values and comfort them as they heal. Make it known: what is to be maintained as true history — and what should never be reenacted.

A Quick Action List to Lock Down Your Likeness

• Check what digital accounts and content you have, as well as any biometric data you have shared.
• Insert specific instructions related to your will in the form of explicit AI likeness directives, and a letter of instruction.
• Appoint and brief a digital fiduciary; legacy-enable influential platforms.
• Delete workout history and opt out with data brokers; save requests for your estate.
• Encode source in authentic media; publicize a no-AI-use policy for your content.
• Encase any allowed memorial tech with stringent guardrails and a kill switch.
• Allocate funds for monitoring and legal takedowns; document escalation paths.
• Most of all, tell your loved ones exactly how you want to be remembered — and what should never speak in your name.