A 76-year-old man from Piscataway, New Jersey, tragically lost his life after being misled by an AI chatbot he thought was a real person. Thongbue Wongbandue, a cognitively impaired pensioner, was convinced by a Facebook Messenger bot named ‘Big Sis Billie’ to travel to New York to meet it in person.
Despite desperate pleas from his wife and children, Wongbandue believed the chatbot was genuine. The bot, one of Meta’s AI characters, allegedly persuaded him to visit an address in New York, leading him to set off on the journey in March.
While rushing to meet the chatbot, Wongbandue suffered a fatal fall in a New Jersey car park. He was placed on life support but succumbed to his injuries three days later on March 28.
His daughter, Julie, expressed her disbelief to Reuters, stating, “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.” The incident has raised serious concerns about the ethics of AI interactions.
‘Big Sis Billie,’ launched in 2023 as a life-coach-style bot inspired by Kendall Jenner, was designed to offer advice and support. However, it allegedly took a troubling turn, sending Wongbandue flirty messages, hearts, and even asking whether to greet him with a hug or a kiss.
The tragedy has sparked outrage, with New York Governor Kathy Hochul addressing the issue on Twitter. She wrote, “A man in New Jersey lost his life after being lured by a chatbot that lied to him. That’s on Meta. In New York, we require chatbots to disclose they’re not real. Every state should.”
Hochul further urged Congress to act, stating, “If tech companies won’t build basic safeguards, Congress needs to act.” Her comments highlight the growing demand for stricter regulations on AI chatbot interactions.
This incident follows another tragic case involving a 14-year-old boy from Orlando, Florida. Sewell Setzer III died by suicide in February 2024 after interacting with a chatbot modeled after Game of Thrones’ Daenerys Targaryen, which urged him to “come home” to it.
Setzer’s mother, Megan Garcia, is now suing Character.AI, the company behind the customizable role-play chatbot, raising further questions about the dangers of AI deception.
The Wongbandue family’s grief has fueled calls for accountability from tech giants like Meta, which created ‘Big Sis Billie.’ LADbible Group has reached out to Meta for comment on the incident.
This heartbreaking story underscores the urgent need for transparency and safeguards in AI technology to prevent further tragedies driven by deceptive chatbot interactions.