Rachel – Lessons in Mental Wellbeing from the AI-Mediated Intimacy Economy

17h15 to 17h35

Dr Rachel O’Connell is founder and CEO of TrustElevate.com, an eKYC provider, for All identities, All Ages, All Parents, Any Service, One Solution. TrustElevate enabling digital platforms to operate in compliance with a raft of regulations. Dr O’Connell is one of the preeminent authorities on electronic identification and age verification. She is the author of the British Standards Institution (BSI) technical standard on Age Checking code of practice, which is now becoming an ISO standard. Rachel is a member of the BSI technical committee IST/33/5 Identity Management and Privacy Technologies and its panel IST/33/5/5 Age Assurance Standards. Dr O’Connell was the subject matter expert on the Home Office and Department for Culture Media and Sports, Verification of Children Online (VoCO) programme of work. See video of stakeholders here – https://youtu.be/aAYoHDTXTGs , rationale for the VoCO programme of work here https://youtu.be/bI3N_Ly__84 and final report here https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/voco-verification-of-children-online-phase-2-report

Rachel was the fifth person to join the social networking platform, Bebo, and was instrumental in operationally building the business, which was acquired by AOL in 2008 for $850M.

Before joining Bebo, Rachel led a series of highly successful large-scale Pan-European projects, which involved managing teams located in 19 countries across Europe. In 2000, Rachel set up the Cyberspace Research Unit, at the University of Central Lancashire and secured funding from the European Commission to establish and operate the first UK Internet Safety Centre (2000- 2006), which was based at the Cyberspace Research Unit. Rachel focussed her PHD study on the implications of online paedophile activity for investigative strategies.

Her talk will explore key lessons learned from the rapid evolution of AI companions. We will examine the critical importance of digital literacy and critical reasoning, using real-world examples to illustrate the dangers of emotional dependence on AI and the need for safeguards. We will discuss the ethical complexities of “digital resurrection,” where the voices of the deceased are cloned by AI, and its implications for the grieving process. These challenges, while significant, offer invaluable insights into how we can proactively shape the future of our digital interactions.

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Jungle Talks
5:15 pm - 5:35 pm
The digital landscape is transitioning from an attention-based to an AI-mediated intimacy economy, presenting both new therapeutic opportunities and profound challenges for human mental wellbeing. Drawing on Jean Baudrillard's concept of simulacra, this presentation examines how AI companions create powerful emotional connections that may feel authentic but are, in fact, simulated. The core question is: how do we empower ourselves to "Exit the Simulation" and cultivate genuine human connection in this new reality?