New Delhi: A heavenly chorus plays in the background as the soldier embraces and kisses his wife and child and walks toward the pearly gates.
AI-generated videos of dead soldiers are the latest social media trend clouding Russian feeds. As the war with Ukraine enters its fourth year, families are paying for AI-generated videos to bring their loved ones back to life.
Soldiers can be seen embracing their families before departing for heaven, while winged soldiers can also be seen descending to earth to embrace their loved ones one last time.
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These best-selling videos can reportedly be purchased from 200 rubles for the cheapest version to 10,000 rubles for urgent orders. times. AI-generated songs can also be ordered for 5,000 rubles.
times It also turns out that some creators of such AI videos can earn nearly 2,000 rubles a month, twice the average salary in Russia.
but, BBC News Russia It is estimated that the production cost of these videos is often less than 30 rubles.
Such “farewell” videos have been slowly taking over the internet since 2025. On the other hand, videos saying goodbye or remembering celebrities are fairly common and popular across Instagram. Resuscitation is gaining increasing attention as a new coping mechanism.
The University of Southern California also offers interactive sessions with Holocaust survivors (most of whom have since passed away) based on pre-recorded testimonies and interviews.
The USC Shoah Foundation website says, “The testimonial dimension allows people to ask questions that prompt real-time answers.”
In 2024, a video of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi went viral on social media. The author-turned-politician, who passed away in 2018 due to age-related illness, congratulated fellow politician TR Bahl on the release of his autobiographical book in an AI-generated video.
What effect does it have on the mind?
Although this “grief tech” is gradually gaining popularity across the media, the psychological effects of its use remain uncertain.
In some cases, AI-generated videos like this can bring relief or closure. For others, it can prolong their grief and cause confusion and loss of reality.
A 2025 study titled “From Mourning to Manipulation: Navigating the Psychological Land of AI Grief Therapy” explores how deepfakes can exacerbate emotional dependence and impede healthy psychological closure.
The study also highlights how relying on AI models to recreate real people can introduce fabricated behaviors, incorrect reactions, or altered characteristics that can distort memories.
