Enrico Morselli "> A Victorian seance sees a table mysteriously levitate. Credit: Enrico Morselli

Death has never entirely stopped the living from trying to continue a conversation with their loved ones.

Today, AI-powered deathbots and a growing range of "grief tech" bring to market several ways that consumers can recreate the voices of the deceased. They open new commercial opportunities and experiences alongside uncomfortable questions about whether grief should be profitable.

Yet long before AI made it possible to simulate (and charge a premium for) a familiar voice, the spiritualist movement that swept across Victorian Britain negotiated issues of credibility, authenticity and commercial exploitation while transforming one of humanity's most enduring desires into something marketable.

Our research into the business history of spiritualism in 19th-century Britain suggests that the similarities go deeper than a shared fascination with communicating with the dead.

Victorian Britain is often remembered…