Overview
Please consider creating a secure In-Memoriam or Legacy Access feature for ChatGPT — one that allows users to designate specific individuals to receive curated content (e.g., a personal archive, legacy draft, or values document) only in the event of their confirmed death.
This would offer a dignified and ethical way for users to create something meaningful during their lifetime, with confidence it won’t be accessed prematurely or inappropriately.
Use Case
Many of us use ChatGPT not just as a productivity tool, but as a thought partner, creative assistant, or even a semi-structured journal. Over time, these conversations can contain:
- Personal reflections
- Advice to children or family
- Life stories or insights
- Messages meant to be read posthumously
I’d like the ability to prepare a document — a “legacy draft” — that is:
- Composed in collaboration with ChatGPT
- Kept private and secure during my lifetime
- Shared only with pre-approved individuals upon verification of death
Requirements
A feature like this should include:
- A secure opt-in process
- Designation of trusted recipients (names and emails or identities)
- A required delay period (e.g., 90 days post-confirmation)
- Verification triggers (e.g., death certificate, grant of probate, executor action)
- Ethical review / safeguards to prevent abuse
Why This Matters
As AI becomes more integrated into personal knowledge work and reflection, it’s not unreasonable to want the results of that work to outlive the user — on their own terms.
Many people already write letters, videos, or messages to be opened “in the event of…” This is simply a 21st-century continuation of that very human tradition, with the added nuance that GPT can help shape and structure it.
Summary
This isn’t about AI simulating the deceased or creating deepfakes. It’s about:
- Letting humans leave something meaningful behind,
- Giving their survivors a way to access it ethically,
- And doing so with dignity, consent, and clear protections.
Submitted by:
MDD
(Regular user, long-term customer, and legacy tech realist)