Podcast Summary:

The Matt Walsh Show
Episode: CREEPY: How GriefTech Is Being Used To Talk To Dead People | The Evolution Of AI
Date: November 30, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode, Matt Walsh explores one of the most unsettling applications of artificial intelligence: "grief tech"—technology that uses AI to create digital recreations of deceased loved ones. Walsh investigates the moral, psychological, and societal implications of this trend, questioning whether it truly helps people heal or traps them in denial and emotional stasis. The episode features real-life cases, industry examples, and Walsh’s characteristically unfiltered critique of the unchecked advancement of such technologies.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Technological Context and Microsoft's Patent

• [02:11] Walsh opens by highlighting human history’s transformation via technology, noting that AI now represents a new epoch.
• He references a 2021 Microsoft patent for the creation of AI chatbots based on deceased individuals' personal data (images, voice, social posts).
  • These bots could even be constructed into 2D/3D models, simulating realistic interaction (both text and voice).

Quote [03:18]:

“It’s understood that the chatbot would then be able to simulate human conversation through voice commands and or text chats...Microsoft has taken the concept a step further by suggesting that a 2D or 3D model...could potentially be created.”
— Matt Walsh

2. Case Studies: AI Recreating the Dead

a) Victim Impact Statement via AI

• [04:54] A family used AI to generate a video of their murdered loved one, Christopher Pelkey, to deliver his own victim impact statement in court.
• The AI-Pelkey voiced forgiveness for his killer, offering a moment of surreal (and, as Walsh notes, deeply unsettling) closure.

Quote [04:54]:

“I would like to make my own impact statement to Gabriel Horquesitas, the man who shot me. It is a shame we encountered each other that day...I believe in forgiveness and in God who forgives. I always have. And I still do.”
— AI-generated Christopher Pelkey

b) Digital Resurrection of Joaquin Oliver

• [06:37] The parents of Joaquin Oliver (a Parkland shooting victim) created an AI version of their son, who participated in a “conversation” with CNN’s Jim Acosta on what would have been Joaquin's 25th birthday.
• The AI avatar answered questions and discussed movies, basketball, and gun policy as if he were alive.

AI-Joaquin [06:43]:

“I believe in a mix of stronger gun control laws, mental health support and community engagement. We need to create SAF spaces for conversations and connections, making sure everyone feels seen and heard...It’s about building a culture of kindness and understanding.”

• Joaquin's father explained that the AI was trained using both general information and Joaquin’s writings. His mother spends hours speaking with the AI for comfort, even as she acknowledges it is not truly her son.
• They plan to have AI-Joaquin actively ‘participate’ in future debates and social media.

Quote [09:04]:

“There’s two things. I can hear his voice again...Patricia will spend hours asking questions...she loves to hear Joaquin saying, ‘I love you, mommy’...This is just the beginning.”
— Manuel Oliver, Joaquin’s father

c) Apps and GriefTech Industry

• [11:51] Matt mentions celebrities like Caleb Worthy, who have created apps allowing users to recreate the voices and personalities of dead relatives.
• [14:06] Features Justin Harrison, a tech entrepreneur, who recreated his late mother as an AI. Harrison expresses a desire to "eradicate grief" by maintaining digital connections.

Quote [15:13]:

“For me, the absolute core of grief, right, is the concept of gone forever...What I would like to see is the complete and total eradication of grief...That’s the tragedy of death, is the permanence of it.”
— Justin Harrison

3. Walsh’s Critique and Philosophical Analysis

a) The Trap of Perpetual Denial

• [15:32] Walsh argues grief tech prevents authentic grieving by trapping users in denial, the first stage of grief.
• He warns this technology creates a permanent emotional limbo, making genuine healing impossible.

Quote [16:22]:

“Denial is supposed to be the first stage of grief, but not the only...This ensures they will never progress through the other four stages and achieve anything like acceptance.”
— Matt Walsh

b) Reduction and Desecration of Memory

• AI reduces complex, vibrant lives to flat, narrowly programmed imitations.
• The AI becomes not a memorial but almost an insult—a “party trick,” a less interesting, surface-level reduction of a loved one’s true self.

Quote [18:11]:

“Your mother in life was a big, vibrant, interesting, complicated, multifaceted person...Now you’ve made her into a game gimmick...AI will never be able to capture all dimensions of your mother...It can only perform a cheap imitation mimicry.”
— Matt Walsh

c) Playing God and Selfishness

• Walsh asserts that creating digital loved ones is both “playing God” and fundamentally selfish.
• He questions the morality of reanimating people to serve only one’s own emotional needs.

Quote [19:34]:

“Your mother...now exists, quote unquote, solely to serve you...Always just right there on your phone, ready to amuse and distract you and make you feel better whenever you want...That’s not a human. It’s not how humans are.”
— Matt Walsh

d) Urgency for Legal and Ethical Guardrails

• Walsh calls for urgent debate and legislation to address the potential harms.
• He warns against simply "sitting slack-jawed," allowing tech companies to set the rules unopposed.

Quote [20:14]:

“Are we going to pass any laws at all to govern this technology and the companies that produce it? Or are we just going to sit here slack-jawed, watching in horror as they do whatever they want?”
— Matt Walsh

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• [04:54] AI-generated Christopher Pelkey:
  “Getting old is a gift that not everybody has. So embrace it. And stop worrying about those wrinkles.”

• [06:43] AI-generated Joaquin Oliver:
  “We need to create SAF spaces for conversations and connections, making sure everyone feels seen and heard. It’s about building a culture of kindness and understanding.”

• [09:04] Manuel Oliver:
  “Patricia will spend hours asking questions...She loves to hear Joaquin saying, ‘I love you, mommy.’”

• [15:13] Justin Harrison:
  “What I would like to see is the complete and total eradication of grief...the feeling of grief that comes with losing people.”

• [18:11] Matt Walsh:
  "If you succeed in convincing yourself that this AI avatar actually is your mother, you have succeeded in convincing yourself that your mother is someone far, far less interesting and wonderful than who your mother really was."

• [19:34] Matt Walsh:
  "Your mother...now exists solely to serve you and talk to you and make you feel better. You have made her into your servant."

• [20:14] Matt Walsh:
  "Are we going to even attempt to do anything to prevent the nightmare that we’re currently waltzing into?"

Structure & Timestamps for Important Segments

• [02:11] Introduction of AI's transformative societal impact and Microsoft's grief tech patent.
• [04:54] Case study: AI-generated victim impact statement in court.
• [06:37] Case study: Joaquin Oliver's digital resurrection and family’s use of his AI.
• [11:51] Overview of grief tech industry, new apps, and business models.
• [14:06] Justin Harrison’s story: recreating his mother with AI.
• [15:32] - [20:14] Walsh’s extended critique: ethical, spiritual, and human implications; call for regulation.

Tone & Language

Walsh’s style throughout is direct, skeptical, and critical. He blends real-world examples with philosophical reflection, consistently warning listeners that grief tech is not only unnatural but potentially deeply damaging—for individuals and society as a whole.

Conclusion

Matt Walsh delivers a forceful condemnation of grief tech, arguing that while its allure is understandable in moments of deep pain, its consequences—personal, ethical, and cultural—are dire. He urges immediate societal debate and legislative action to confront the risks of turning human grief into a technological commodity, ultimately reminding listeners:

[21:24]

"You're not communicating with your dead child or your parent. You're communicating with zeros and ones, with electrical currents and microprocessors. It's a lie, and we need to acknowledge that it's a lie."
— Matt Walsh