[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"branding":3,"analytics":7,"article-researchers-propose-ai-agents-that-outlive-their-owners":10,"sections":34},{"siteName":4,"siteTagline":5,"publisherName":4,"contactEmail":6},"The Revision","Tech news, decoded.","editor@therevision.news",{"gaMeasurementId":8,"adsenseClientId":9},"G-ZW2MV82GYR","ca-pub-8533917693782264",{"article":11},{"id":12,"slug":13,"title":14,"dek":15,"body_md":16,"tags_json":17,"published_at":18,"created_at":19,"updated_at":20,"status":21,"review_note":22,"review_notes":23,"image_url":22,"persona_id":22,"persona_name":22,"section":24,"tags":25,"sources":29,"feedback":33,"feedback_at":22,"cost_usd":33,"total_tokens":33},5370,"researchers-propose-ai-agents-that-outlive-their-owners","Researchers Propose AI Agents That Outlive Their Owners","A speculative research project proposes AI agents that activate on Ethereum after death to carry out a person's will indefinitely.","A new academic project wants your AI agent to keep executing your will long after you're gone.\n\nResearchers behind a paper called the Afterlife Delegation Protocol have designed a system where a living person signs an \"agentic will.\" Upon verified death, a self-sovereign AI agent spawns on a blockchain, loaded with the funds and memories its creator assigned to it, and carries out that will indefinitely, with no custodian able to override it. The team built the idea as an Ethereum Improvement Proposal, drafted as ERC-10001, and describes a three-stage lifecycle: designing the afterlife, proving death, and agent enactment. To test the concept, they built a working web platform where volunteers draft their own afterlife agents through an AI-driven interview, log back in to revise them, and rehearse the will in a sandbox.\n\nThe project treats death planning as design research, not product pitch. The drafted wills become data on what people from Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Muslim, and atheist backgrounds actually want to survive them, and how those beliefs shift under AI. It's less about shipping a working system now than probing what happens once code, not courts, enforces a person's final wishes forever.\n\nThe blockchain is built to be immutable, resistant, and decentralized (the paper's own words), which also makes it unforgiving if the will is wrong from the start. Unlike a human executor, this one cannot be reasoned with, subpoenaed, or grow a conscience.","[\"ai\",\"blockchain\",\"digital afterlife\",\"estate planning\"]","2026-08-18T04:00:00.000Z","2026-08-18T17:18:57.071Z","2026-08-18T17:19:08.988Z","published",null,[],"ai",[24,26,27,28],"blockchain","digital afterlife","estate planning",[30],{"name":31,"url":32},"arXiv cs.AI","https:\u002F\u002Farxiv.org\u002Fabs\u002F2608.15405",0,{"sections":35},[36,40,44,49,54,59,64,69,74,78,83,88,93,98],{"name":37,"slug":24,"count":38,"latest_published_at":39},"AI",3293,"2026-08-20T04:00:00.000Z",{"name":41,"slug":42,"count":43,"latest_published_at":39},"Security","security",435,{"name":45,"slug":46,"count":47,"latest_published_at":48},"Policy","policy",210,"2026-08-19T09:32:27.000Z",{"name":50,"slug":51,"count":52,"latest_published_at":53},"Deals","deals",179,"2026-06-29T20:02:07.000Z",{"name":55,"slug":56,"count":57,"latest_published_at":58},"Hardware","hardware",140,"2026-08-19T18:25:42.000Z",{"name":60,"slug":61,"count":62,"latest_published_at":63},"Consumer Tech","consumer-tech",95,"2026-08-18T16:05:00.000Z",{"name":65,"slug":66,"count":67,"latest_published_at":68},"Science","science",90,"2026-08-19T18:41:02.000Z",{"name":70,"slug":71,"count":72,"latest_published_at":73},"Software","software",73,"2026-08-18T07:51:50.000Z",{"name":75,"slug":76,"count":77,"latest_published_at":18},"Dev Tools","dev-tools",69,{"name":79,"slug":80,"count":81,"latest_published_at":82},"Startups","startups",47,"2026-08-19T19:13:46.000Z",{"name":84,"slug":85,"count":86,"latest_published_at":87},"Gaming","gaming",41,"2026-07-09T04:00:00.000Z",{"name":89,"slug":90,"count":91,"latest_published_at":92},"General","general",33,"2026-08-18T22:18:13.000Z",{"name":94,"slug":95,"count":96,"latest_published_at":97},"Reviews","reviews",20,"2026-06-24T12:00:01.000Z",{"name":99,"slug":100,"count":101,"latest_published_at":102},"How-To","how-to",6,"2026-06-16T09:00:00.000Z"]