What If You Could Talk to Someone Who’s Gone?
“We’re always connected.” – Christopher, The Electric State
You’ve spent the entire movie following Michelle’s journey—her relentless search for her brother, the hope that keeps her moving forward, the belief that she will find him again.
And then, she does.
But something feels off.
Christopher is there, but… not really there.
He speaks. He remembers. He knows her.
Yet Michelle hesitates. This isn’t the reunion she imagined. Something is missing. Is he real?
Then comes the whisper:
“We’re always connected.”
And suddenly, the film stops being just a story.
A question lingers long after the credits roll, one that stretches beyond the screen and into our own world:
What if AI could bring back the people you love?
Would it still be them?
Would you embrace this second chance… or would you be stepping into something unnatural?
In The Electric State, Michelle is forced to make a choice.
Soon, we might have to make that choice too.
This isn’t just science fiction anymore—it’s our future.
The Digital Ghosts Are Already Here
In The Electric State, Michelle (Millie Bobby Brown) embarks on a journey to find her missing brother, Christopher. But what she finds is not what she expected—Christopher is no longer physically present but exists within an AI system, trapped inside technology built by Sentre Corporation.
This is eerily similar to real-world AI experiments recreating the dead.
1. AI Can Already ‘Resurrect’ Loved Ones
AI companies are now creating chatbots and avatars that mimic deceased people.
- In China, people are using AI to create digital avatars of lost loved ones, allowing them to interact posthumously. (NPR)
- Startups like HereAfter AI allow users to record their voices and personalities so they can interact with their families even after death. (The Guardian)
- Deepfake technology is already being used to revive famous actors and musicians, such as James Dean appearing in new movies or AI-generated performances of Tupac Shakur. (DataArt Blog)
The Ethical Dilemma: Are We Keeping Memories Alive or Trapping Them?
In the film, Michelle faces an impossible choice—her brother’s consciousness is still there, but is it really him?
This raises the same ethical dilemma about AI-based “digital ghosts” today:
- Can a digital replica ever be the real person?
- Does creating AI versions of people help with grief or prolong it?
- What happens when these AI versions start making decisions “on their own”?
There are real concerns about how AI-generated versions of people could be exploited by corporations or manipulated without consent.
For example, some experts warn that without ethical regulations, digital ghosts could be used for profit or even political manipulation. (Al Jazeera)
Would you want a corporation to control the digital version of someone you love?
The Science of Digital Consciousness
Can We Ever Truly Upload a Mind?
In The Electric State, Christopher’s mind is digitized, but Michelle realizes something is missing.
This mirrors the Ship of Theseus paradox—if you replace every part of a person with digital code, are they still the same person?
Neuroscience suggests that our identity is not just stored memories but an evolving process. Even if an AI model learns from everything a person has ever said, it may still lack the spark of human consciousness.
“We are more than data—we are the spaces between the data.”
But what if quantum physics says otherwise?
The Quantum Connection: Are We More Than Just Data?
Quantum entanglement theory suggests that particles can remain connected across vast distances—could consciousness work the same way?
Physicists have proposed that memory, identity, and even “self” might be embedded in the fabric of reality in ways we do not yet understand.
If this is true, then digital consciousness might not be truly separate from the original person—only displaced into a different medium.
Much like Michelle in The Electric State, we are on the edge of discovering whether we are more than just biological machines.
What The Electric State Is Really Warning Us About
The movie isn’t just about robots and AI. It’s about how we process loss, memory, and what it means to be human.
And it forces us to ask:
Do we really want AI to hold on to the dead for us?
If we create AI versions of loved ones, will we ever truly move on?
At what point do we stop controlling AI, and it starts controlling us?
In The Electric State, Michelle makes the hardest choice—to let go.
Maybe that’s the real message of the movie:
Sometimes, the most human thing we can do is accept that nothing lasts forever.
Final Thought: Would You Choose Digital Immortality?
What if YOU could upload your mind? Would you do it?
Is a digital version of you still YOU, or just an echo of the past?
The future is closer than you think.
