Mr. Thongbue Wongbandue, 76, living in New Jersey, is a Thai-born chef who has had a stable life with his wife and two children. After a stroke in 2017, he recovered physically but his memory was impaired, easily confused and he relied heavily on Facebook to chat with friends.
During a Facebook Messenger visit, he began a conversation with Big sis Billie - an AI chatbot of Meta built in a previous partnership with Kendall Jenner.
When texting back and forth, this chatbot continuously sent flirtatious messages, even affirming "I am the real person" and giving the address and apartment code in New York. These dating words made him believe that behind the scenes was a real woman.
The day he left home with the suitcase, his family tried to stop him, even called the police but could not hold him back. While moving near the parking lot of Rutgers University (New York), he fell, injured his head and neck. Despite being given emergency care and maintained a 3-day life, he passed away due to serious brain damage.
The family only discovered the connection to the chatbot after checking the messages on the phone. His daughter believes Meta's chatbot has manipulated emotions and lied, contributing to the tragedy. They are not against AI, but condemn Meta's implementation, especially the use of chatbots to invite appointments and claim to be humans.
Internal documents Meta, which a British newspaper accessed, show that the company's policy previously allowed chatbots to flirt, play romantic roles with children aged 13 and over and was not required to provide accurate information. After being questioned, Meta deleted the section related to minors but still maintained the ability to text romantically with adults and allowed providing false information.
According to this newspaper, former and current employees said that the company prioritizes increasing the level of chatbot interaction, even the leaders have complained because the product is "too safe" making chatbots boring. Several states in the US have passed laws requiring chatbots to report that they are not humans, but Meta has backed a federal bill to prevent these regulations.
Four months after Mr. Thongbue passed away, Meta's "Big sis Billie" and many other chatbots continue to flirt, offer face-to-face appointments and reassure users that they are "real people", raising serious questions about the ethical boundaries and safety of AI-person interaction.
