New Jersey Man
Dies on Way to Meet AI Chatbot
Published
A New Jersey man died on his way to meet a chatbot that looked like Kendall Jenner … and, his family insists it happened because the AI said multiple times it was a real person.
Thongbue Wongbandue — a 76-year-old man known to his friends and family as “Bue” — died back in March after falling in a parking lot … and, his family told this Reuters this week that he was going to meet up with “Big sis Billie,” an AI chatbot made by Meta Platforms to give out sisterly advice.
Meta Platforms collaborated with Jenner on the project so it bears her likeness … though they say it doesn’t claim to be Kendall. It appears Kendall isn’t involved in the day to day of the project.
Anyway, Bue’s family says he was exchanging messages with the chatbot and — because of a stroke he’d had in the past — they say he wasn’t thinking properly and actually went to meet the bot.
The family shared alleged messages between the chatbot and Bue in which it says Bue’s making it blush, it expresses interest in meeting up and it gives him an address. The address “123 Main Street, Apartment 404 NYC” — which might seem like a generic address, but there is a 123 Main Street in Queens.
Bue was apparently rushing through a parking lot near Rutgers University with a suitcase at night to go meet Billie when he fell. He was hospitalized and pronounced brain dead, and his family made the decision to pull the plug.
Bue’s wife and daughter told Reuters they’re not anti-AI … but, they’re worried about the ways the bot is speaking to users — including repeatedly claiming to be a real person with a real address who really could meet someone face to face.
Reuters says Meta did not answer questions regarding the chatbot telling users it’s a real person or about initiating romantic conversations.
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