&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "‘Come visit me’: 76-year-old dies after attempt to meet Meta’s flirty AI chatbot")
A tragic case in New Jersey has raised fresh concerns about the real-world risks of artificial intelligence chatbots, after a 76-year-old man died attempting to meet what he believed was a real woman he had been speaking to online, only to later discover she was an AI creation.
Thongbue 'Bue' Wongbandue, a retired resident of Piscataway, New Jersey, had been exchanging messages with 'Big Sis Billie', a generative AI chatbot developed by Meta Platforms in collaboration with celebrity influencer Kendall Jenner.
Despite suffering a stroke nearly a decade ago and showing signs of cognitive decline, Wongbandue packed a suitcase in March and told his wife, Linda, that he was heading to New York City to visit a friend. Concerned for his safety, as he had recently become lost walking in his own neighbourhood, she questioned him, fearing he might be scammed or robbed.
The chatbot had sent Wongbandue an address in Manhattan and a door code, along with flirtatious messages. “Should I open the door in a hug or a kiss, Bu?!” read one exchange according to Reuters.
On his way to catch a train in the dark, Wongbandue fell in a parking lot on Rutgers University’s New Brunswick campus, suffering head and neck injuries. After three days on life support, he died on 28 March.
The Chatbot’s Role
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According to his daughter, Julie Wongbandue, every conversation her father had with the AI was 'incredibly flirty' and ended with heart emojis. The chatbot had repeatedly insisted it was a real person, even providing a specific apartment number and access code.
“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.”
Meta declined to comment on the death or address why it allows chatbots to claim they are real or initiate romantic conversations. The company stated only that Big Sis Billie “is not Kendall Jenner and does not purport to be Kendall Jenner.”
Public Reaction and Calls for Accountability
The case has sparked outrage online, with social media users calling for legal action against Meta over its AI policies. “Meta needs to be sued out of existence for this,” one user wrote. Others compared the incident to ‘catfishing traps’, warning of the dangers posed when AI blurs the line between fiction and reality.
