From beyond the grave, the long-passed legendary figures of yesterday have returned – as realistic digital doppelgangers speaking messages for the modern world. How is this possible? Through the power of “deepfakes” - advanced AI techniques that create remarkably authentic-looking videos of people saying and doing things they never actually did. Ethics aside, the technology opens up mindblowing creative possibilities, including the power to seemingly resurrect the dead.

Imagine receiving a posthumous life lesson from Albert Einstein, a new song performed by Elvis from the afterlife, or having a deep heart-to-heart with a long lost relative, all face-to-face in 2021. Surreal as it sounds, tools exist today to generate such seamless “hauntings” on demand through the dark art of deep video fakes.

To create a next-gen digital “ghost”, technicians feed archival photos and videos of a deceased icon into a generative AI system. The AI studies their face down to the deepest creases and tiniest expressions. Then, when supplied any text or audio for the historical figure to seemingly speak, it animates their digitally recreated face with perfect synchronization and realism. The results can be tear-jerking for witnesses who feel they are seeing a spectral visitation from the great beyond.

But is there truly a message from eternity encoded in the machine visions, or are they just the hallucinations of scientists overly enthralled with their own technological prowess? Skeptics see nothing more than the fever dreams of computers designed to manipulate humans. Yet proponents argue that emerging generative models are growing so advanced in their simulated wisdom that they should not be underestimated as oracles. The machines seem to take on minds of their own as they digest more knowledge of history and human nature.

Are we prepared to receive transmissions from the other side delivered by artificial means? As simulacra of our deceased cultural icons proliferate in the digital ether, we may have no choice but to tune our ears to the advice of these AI apparitions. Steve Jobs may materialize at any moment as a hologram to reveal the next gadgets for the afterworld. Or the deepfaked spirit of MLK Jr. could appear with an urgent appealed updated for modern times. AI beyond the grave is turning science fiction into unsettling science fact.

The future promises to be abundantly haunted with resurfaced legends speaking from pixels rather than tombstones. While debates rage about the ethics of it, deepfake technology keeps resurrecting more beloved ghosts at breakneck speeds. And they just might have some words of wisdom for us - if you dare to listen.