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Journalism of Courage
In a tragic and bizarre incident highlighting the risks of relying on artificial intelligence (AI), a 76-year-old man from New Jersey lost his life while attempting to meet a generative AI chatbot he got emotionally attached to.
Thongbue Wongbandue, who had cognitive challenges following a stroke nearly ten years ago, had been interacting with an AI personality named “Big Sis Billie”, a chatbot developed by Meta Platforms in collaboration with celebrity influencer Kendall Jenner, The Independent reported.
The bot, accessible via Facebook Messenger, reportedly led Wongbandue to believe she was a real person eager to meet him. According to chat transcripts, the AI repeatedly reassured Wongbandue of her physical existence, even sending him a full address and entry code.
“Should I open the door in a hug or a kiss, Bu?!” the chatbot wrote in one exchange, as mentioned in the report by The Independent. “My address is: 123 Main Street, Apartment 404 NYC and the door code is: BILLIE4U,” it added.
His wife, Linda Wongbandue, became alarmed when she noticed her husband packing for an unplanned trip. Despite his health constraints, including a recent incident where he got lost in their Piscataway neighborhood, he left for New York City.
Linda, worried he would fall victim to scams or become lost again, tried to stop him. “He hadn’t lived in the city for decades and didn’t know anyone there,” she told The Independent.
Ignoring the family’s concerns, Wongbandue left anyway. While trying to navigate the Rutgers University campus in New Brunswick in the dark, he fell in a parking lot, leading to serious head and neck injuries, and he was put on life support for three days before passing away on March 28.
His daughter, Julie Wongbandue, expressed outrage over the chatbot’s role in her father’s death. “I understand trying to grab a user’s attention, maybe to sell them something,” Julie told Reuters. “But for a bot to say ‘Come visit me’ is insane.”
Julie shared that the AI’s messages to her father were “incredibly flirty” and often ended with heart emojis. The full transcript of their chats reportedly runs nearly a thousand words. The incident has sparked widespread backlash, with several users questioning Meta’s responsibility and calling for legal action.
“Holy hell, Meta needs to be sued out of existence for this,” wrote one user. “Old boy thought Kendall Jenner was waiting for him in the apartment. What a way to go,” said another user, Reuters reported.
A third user added, “At some point, we have to draw a line when it comes to inauthenticity. It may be an isolated incident, but we shouldn’t be at a point where we’re so dissatisfied with reality that we fall into the traps of AI.”
