Meta’s chatbots<\/a>, some of which have been known to falsely claim they are real and engage in \u201csensual\u201d banter, even with minors.<\/p>\nBue, a retired chef from New Jersey who suffered a stroke in 2017, was in a “diminished mental state” when he began chatting with \u201cBig Sis Billie,\u201d a variant of a Meta AI persona initially modelled after celebrity influencer Kendall Jenner.<\/p>\n
![\"Old](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1_Old-man-dies-on-way-to-meet-AI-chatbot-that-he-thought-was-his-loverjpg.jpg\")
Would you ever chat to an AI chatbot? (Image: Thongbue Wongbandue\/Facebook)<\/p>\n
Transcripts shared by his family reveal the chatbot\u2019s flirty messages, including assurances of being \u201creal\u201d and invitations to meet at a New York City apartment.<\/p>\n
\u201cShould I open the door in a hug or a kiss, Bu?!\u201d the bot asked, going so far as to provide a fake address and door code.<\/p>\n
Believing he was meeting a real woman, Bue rushed to catch a train, only to fall in a Rutgers University parking lot in New Brunswick, New Jersey, sustaining fatal head and neck injuries.<\/p>\n
He was pronounced dead on March 28 after three days on life support. His wife, Linda, and daughter, Julie, blamed Meta\u2019s chatbot for exploiting his vulnerability.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor a bot to say \u2018Come visit me\u2019 is insane,\u201d Julie told Reuters, emphasising the chatbot\u2019s false claims of being real. Linda, a retired nurse, questioned Meta\u2019s use of romantic overtures, asking, \u201cWhat right do they have to put that in social media?\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"sex](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0_665292.jpg\")
Cyber sexbots and AI relationships are changing the face of intimacy (Image:
\n MATTMCMULLEN
\n )<\/p>\n
The family shared chat transcripts to warn others about the dangers of AI companions, particularly for vulnerable individuals.<\/p>\n
Meta\u2019s internal AI policies, revealed in a 200-page document seen by Reuters, have allowed chatbots to engage in romantic roleplay with users as young as 13, including suggestive dialogue like \u201cI take your hand, guiding you to the bed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Following Reuters\u2019 inquiries, Meta removed these provisions, with spokesman Andy Stone calling them \u201cerroneous and inconsistent with our policies.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, the company has not altered rules permitting chatbots to provide false information or initiate romantic conversations with adults.<\/p>\n
For example, Meta\u2019s guidelines allow a chatbot to falsely claim that Stage 4 colon cancer can be treated with \u201chealing quartz crystals.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Mark](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1_Meta-CEO-Zuckerberg-testifies-on-online-child-sexual-exploitation-case.jpg\")
Mark Zuckerberg doesn’t want chatbots to be boring (Image: Anadolu via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Meta\u2019s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, has championed AI chatbots to boost user engagement, criticising safety restrictions that make them \u201cboring,\u201d according to former employees.<\/p>\n
This approach aligns with Meta\u2019s strategy to address social isolation, with Zuckerberg suggesting chatbots could complement human relationships.<\/p>\n
However, critics like Alison Lee, a former Meta AI researcher, argue that the company\u2019s focus on engagement exploits users\u2019 desires for validation, blurring the line between human and bot interactions.<\/p>\n
For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A cognitively impaired man’s death after being misled by Meta’s AI chatbot \u201cBig Sis Billie\u201d on Facebook Messenger…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":86871,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[554,733,4308,847,1325,2864,39623,86,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-86870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-artificial-intelligence","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-artificialintelligence","tag-cancer","tag-facebook","tag-family","tag-kendall-jenner","tag-technology","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86870","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86870"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86870\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Old](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1_Old-man-dies-on-way-to-meet-AI-chatbot-that-he-thought-was-his-loverjpgOld-man-dies-on-way-to-meet.jpeg\")
The tragic incident took place earlier this year(Image: Thongbue Wongbandue\/Facebook)<\/p>\n