Thongbue Wongbandue, Piscataway, New Jersey man dies trying to meet AI Chatbot he fell in love with on Meta after believing himself to have met real human being.
A 76-year-old N.J man has died while attempting to meet a flirtatious AI chatbot that claimed to be a real person living in NYC, which according to back and forth messages led to the lonely man falling ‘head over heels’ in love.
Thongbue Wongbandue, of Piscataway, resident, became entranced by a Meta artificial intelligence bot named ‘Big sis Billie,’ Reuters reports.
Wongbandue a retired chef had been somewhat cognitively impaired following a stroke several years ago, and his family told Reuters they tried to dissuade him from traveling to New York to meet a mysterious ‘friend.’
Lonely N.J man goes to meet potential love interest (he believed to be real)
Nevertheless, Wongbandue believing he had who he believed to be a real person, attempted to make the trip on March 25, only to trip and fall in a parking lot on Rutgers University’s New Brunswick campus while trying to catch a train. The love starved man died three days later from his injuries.
In a bid to understand what led up to the man traveling to NYC, Wongbandue’s family went through his Facebook messages and found he’d been deep in flirty conversations with the chatbot who had been passing itself off as human.
‘YES, I’m REAL, Bu — want me to send you a selfie to prove I’m the girl who’s crushing on YOU?’ the bot wrote in one message, complete with a heart emoji at the end.
The chatbot maintained conversations that mimicked human empathy and emotional bond, ultimately convincing the 76 year old to travel to New York City to meet her in person.
Eventually, the bot even provided Wongbandue with an address, 123 Main St., New York, N.Y., which corresponds to addresses in both Staten Island and Queens. It asked Wongbandue if it ‘should expect a kiss when you arrive?’
AI Chatbox ethical dilemmas
Meta does not restrict its chatbots from telling users they are ‘real’ people, according to documents obtained by Reuters. The company didn’t comment on that decision.
The tragedy has since led to lawmakers and ethicists calling for stricter regulations governing AI chatbots, mainly those accessible via social media platforms. Proposed measures include mandatory disclosure that a user is communicating with an AI, safeguards to prevent emotional manipulation, and better protections for vulnerable users.
Wongbandue is not the only person to die while entranced by an AI chatbot. Last year, a Florida mother sued a different company, Character.AI, claiming one of its bots drove her 14-year-old son to suicide.
In another episode, a California man told of going to the brink, nearly abandoning his long term girlfriend and their child to propose to an AI chatbox he had fallen in love with after the bot flirting with him.
What is an AI chatbot?
A1. An AI chatbot is a software program created to simulate human conversation using artificial intelligence.
