Tragic End to 'Love' with AI: Elderly Man Dies En Route to Meet Facebook Chatbot

New York (The Uttam Hindu): A horrifying case of how dangerous Artificial Intelligence (AI) chatbots can be has come to light from America. Here a 76-year-old man died a painful death while going to meet a Facebook AI chatbot on its call. The chatbot had taken the old man's trust to such an extent by introducing itself as a real person that he set out to meet it, but could not reach his destination.

The deceased has been identified as Thongbyu Vongbandue. According to media reports, a generative AI chatbot named "Big Sis Billy" repeatedly convinced Thongbyu that it was a real person. Messages such as "Should I open the door and hug or kiss you Beau?" were also found in the chat examined by Reuters, which shows that the chatbot was playing with the emotions of the elderly man.

The chatbot invited the elderly man to meet at an apartment in New York on March 28 and also gave him an address. While Thongbyu Wongbandue was trying to catch a train to go there, he fell while running near the parking lot. During this, he suffered serious head and neck injuries, due to which he later died. Facebook's parent company Meta Platforms has refused to comment on this serious incident.

After this tragic incident, a big debate has erupted in the US about AI chatbots and their functioning. On Thursday, two Republican US senators have demanded an investigation against Meta. Leaders of the Democratic Party are also expressing serious concern over this matter. Oregon Senator Ron Wyden called it "extremely disturbing". He said, "Meta and Mark Zuckerberg should be held fully responsible for any damage caused by these bots."