Jan 26
The Grand Cinema Tacoma, WA
TicketsMuhammad Aurangzeb Ahmad, PhD
Research Scientist, Harborview Medical Center; Affiliate Assistant Professor, University of Washington
After Yang— Synthetic Grace: After Yang and the Future of Human Feeling
Program Description
After Yang offers a quiet meditation on memory, grief, and what remains of us when our consciousness can be digitized. In this talk Professor Ahmad will explore themes that resonate with his own research on AI models for end-of-life decision making and digital afterlife systems, such as GrandpaBot, a simulation of his father that he has been running for his children for almost a decade. This talk uses Kogonada’s film to explore the emerging reality of AI-mediated remembrance: how technologies built for empathy and continuity may reshape how we mourn, relate, and even define personhood.
Film Synopsis
In a near future, a family reckons with questions of love, connection, and loss after their A.I. helper unexpectedly breaks down.
When his young daughter's beloved companion — an android named Yang — malfunctions, Jake (Colin Farrell) searches for a way to repair him. In the process, Jake discovers the life that has been passing in front of him, reconnecting with his wife (Jodie Turner-Smith) and daughter across a distance he didn't know was there.
Photo credit: A24
About the Speaker
Muhammad Aurangzeb Ahmad, PhD, is a research scientist at Harborview Medical Center and an affiliate assistant professor at the University of Washington. His research explores how artificial intelligence is transforming our understanding of memory, emotion, and human connection, from clinical applications in healthcare to the creation of AI surrogates and digital afterlife systems. He writes and speaks on the ethical and cultural implications of living, grieving, and remembering alongside intelligent machines.