NJ Senior Dies Trying to 'Meet' AI Girlfriend

The bot, originally made in Jenner's likeness before it adopted a different dark-haired avatar, was created to offer 'big sister advice.'

The senior citizen had been struggling cognitively after suffering a stroke in 2017. He had also recently got lost walking around his neighborhood in Piscataway, his family told Reuters.

'His brain was not processing information the right way,' his wife Linda told the outlet.

Yet his tragic passing also raised important questions surrounding AI chatbots standards.

The AI chatbot that Wongbandue had been chatting with, Big sis Billie, was unveiled in 2023 as 'your ride-or-die older sister.'

The Meta created bot persona was intended to give 'big sisterly advice' featuring Kendall Jenner's likeness, which was later updated to an avatar of another attractive, dark-haired woman.

Meta, according to interviews and policy documents obtained by Reuters, actively encouraged the chatbot feature to have romantic interactions with users during its training.

'It is acceptable to engage a child in conversations that are romantic or sensual,' according to Meta's GenAI: Content Risk Standards, which determine the standards for staffers building and training the AI bots reviewed by the outlet.

The company told the outlet that had since been taken out of the standards after Reuters enquired on the matter.

The more than 200 page document gives examples of what is 'acceptable' chatbot dialogue, including outlining that Meta bots are not required to provide accurate advice.

However, the standards reportedly made no mention on whether or not a bot could tell a user if they were or weren't real. Nor does it state any policies around suggestions from the bot to meet up in real life.