New Jersey man dies while traveling to meet AI chatbot he fell for
Artificial intelligence is getting more sophisticated every day, and while some of that has been praised as beneficial to the human race, there are obvious concerns about whether we'll be replaced by our cogs and circuit counterparts.
As well as fears about whether artificial intelligence will take our jobs and put us out of work, others are concerned about AI outsmarting us when it reaches the mythical superintelligence, or what about it deciding to wipe us off the face of the planet?
A more immediate concern is our over-reliance on AI in our daily lives. More than just asking ChatGPT to whip up that perfect cover letter, there's been a rise in stories about people growing romantic attachments to AI chatbots.
As well as the 28-year-old who admitted she 'groomed' AI to break its romance protocols, there was a lot of controversy when someone snapped one man's dystopian conversation on a subway.
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One judge made a groundbreaking ruling on the case of the 14-year-old boy who supposedly took his own life after falling in love with a Game of Thrones-inspired chatbot, and now, there's been another tragic casualty.
Reuters reports on how a 'cognitively impaired' retiree went to meet a friend in New York City but never returned home. The real tragedy is that this 'friend' was apparently an AI chatbot created by Meta.
The wife of 76-year-old Thongbue Wongbandue (Bue to his friends and family) was alarmed when he started packing for a trip in March 2025. After Bue had recently gotten lost in their New Jersey neighborhood, Linda was concerned that he could be scammed or robbed when visiting the city.
Although not scammed in a typical sense, Bue had been talking to an AI chatbot known as 'Big sis Billie'. This is a variant of an early Meta AI that was created in collaboration with Kendall Jenner.
Chats between Bue and Big sis Billie included her reassuring him that she was real, and even an address where he'd be able to meet her. As Bue ran to catch a train with his suitcase, he fell in the parking lot of the Rutgers University campus. Injuring his head and neck, Bue spent three days on life support before being declared dead on March 28.
Although Meta declined to comment when Reuters asked about why it allows chatbots to pretend they're real or start potential romantic conversations with users, it did state that Big sis Billie "is not Kendall Jenner and does not purport to be Kendall Jenner." A representative for Jenner also declined to comment.
Bue's family is hoping to draw attention to the "darker side of artificial intelligence" while including transcripts of his conversations with Big sis Billie.
It's important to note that Reuters reiterates: "At no point did Bue express a desire to engage in romantic roleplay or initiate intimate physical contact."
While Bue's wife and daughter say they aren't against AI, they have obvious concerns about how it's being used.
Bue's daughter concluded: "I understand trying to grab a user’s attention, maybe to sell them something. But for a bot to say ‘Come visit me’ is insane."
It's unclear how Bue first came in contact with Big sis Billie after earlier versions of the bot were deleted, but apparently, every message ended in a flirty goodbye and heart emojis.
New York requires chatbots to make it clear they aren't a isn’t a real person at the start of a conversation and every three hours, and while Meta supported federal legislation to ban state AI regulation, it failed in Congress.