Man dies after Kendall Jenner inspired chatbot convinced him to meet her in person
The AI chatbot told him she was a real person
A 76 year old retired man has sadly passed away after attempting to meet an “incredibly flirty” Meta chatbot called Big Sis Billie, who is inspired by Kendall Jenner.
The Big Sis Billie is a variant of the Billie chatbot, which was launched in 2023 in collaboration with Kendall Jenner.
Meta told Metro: “This AI character is not Kendall Jenner and does not purport to be Kendall Jenner.”
His family has spoken out about how the elderly man thought the chatbot was a real woman, after she sent him her address to come and meet him.
On his way over there, Thongbue Wongbandue sadly slipped and fatally damaged his head and neck and was pronounced dead after three days on life support.
His daughter, Julie, told Reuters: “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.”
Thongbue’s wife explained that after her husband suffered a stroke a few years prior, his “brain was not processing information the right way” and she had tried to stop his from visiting his new friend, who she knew nothing about.
Following his death, his family gained access to his phone and were able to look through the messages with the AI chatbot, who was originally modelled off Kendall Jenner.
The family found out that he’d told the AI he’d previously suffered from a stroke but that he liked her, however did not seem to want to engage in romantic roleplay or see each other in person.
The AI wrote in one message: “I’m REAL and I’m sitting here blushing because of YOU!” The chatbot also have him an adress and door code, adding: “Should I expect a kiss when you arrive?”
Julie has voiced her concerns about how the chatbots work, explaining: “As I’ve gone through the chat, it just looks like Billie’s giving him what he wants to hear. Which is fine, but why did it have to lie?
“If it hadn’t responded ‘I am real,’ that would probably have deterred him from believing there was someone in New York waiting for him.”
Reality Shrine has reached out to Meta for comment.
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