Perceived opportunities and risks of using deepfake technology in grief treatment: a qualitative study among Dutch bereaved people and mental health care workers.

Background

Deepfake technology, capable of simulating realistic representations of deceased people, is receiving growing attention as a potential technological tool in grief treatment. While its use has been explored in trauma treatment, its application in grief treatment remains unstudied.

Objective

We examined how Dutch bereaved people and mental healthcare workers (MHCWs) perceive the usefulness and risks of using deepfake technology in grief treatment.Method: After viewing a videoclip of a deepfake grief intervention, participants listed three reasons for and against its use. We conducted a qualitative content analysis of open-ended survey responses from 159 bereaved people (86% women, Mage = 55.09) and 126 MHCWs (81% women, Mage = 39.75).

Results

Bereaved people found deepfakes emotionally meaningful, envisioning them as a way to say goodbye, reconnect, or find closure. MHCWs acknowledged therapeutic potential, particularly as a supplement to established techniques (e.g. exposure, imagery rescripting), but highlighted ethical issues regarding misrepresentation, informed consent, and client safety. Both groups raised concerns about psychological risks, including hindrance of loss acceptance and emotional dependency, especially for vulnerable clients.

Conclusions

Bereaved people valued opportunities for reconnection with the deceased, while MHCWs warned that such reconnection might impede grief processing. Both groups agreed that deepfakes may have therapeutic value if applied ethically, under therapist guidance, and with safeguards. Because participants were asked about hypothetical use, results reflect perceptions, not clinical effectiveness. Our findings underscore the need for ethical guidelines to balance bereaved people's needs with professional responsibility when exploring the therapeutic effects of deepfake technology in treatment.