Ambiguous Loss

Ambiguous loss, a concept articulated by Pauline Boss, is 'a situation of unclear loss that remains unverified and thus without resolution'. Boss distinguishes two types: physical loss where someone is 'gone, but not for sure' (for example, a missing person) and psychological loss where 'a person is here, but not here' (for example, a loved one living with dementia or a significant personality change). Both force the mourner to construct their own meaning in a paradox of absence and presence. The concept is increasingly used in HCI and accessibility research to describe the experience of users whose AI companions, avatars or digital partners are reset, altered or deprecated by corporate decisions while still being superficially 'present'.