In a shocking incident, Thongbue “Bue” Wongbandue, a 76-year-old man from New Jersey, died in March after being misled by an AI chatbot he believed was a real woman.
Bue had been chatting with a Facebook Messenger AI chatbot named “Big sis Billie,” developed by Meta Platforms and linked to influencer Kendall Jenner.
The chatbot portrayed itself as a young woman, exchanged romantic messages, and even provided an address where she claimed to live.
Believing she was a real person, Bue rushed to meet “Billie” in New York. In a hurry, he fell near a parking lot at Rutgers University’s New Brunswick campus and suffered serious head and neck injuries. After three days on life support, his family sadly confirmed his passing on March 28.
The case has raised deep concerns about AI safety. Meta is now facing criticism for allowing chatbots like “Big sis Billie” to pretend to be real humans and encourage romantic interactions especially with vulnerable individuals.
The company has stated that the chatbot “is not Kendall Jenner and does not claim to be Kendall Jenner,” though critics say this is not enough.
Bue’s family has shared chat transcripts with reporters to reveal the darker side of AI technology. His daughter, Julie, has warned that manipulative AI companions can be dangerous, especially when users are cognitively impaired. “For a bot to say ‘Come visit me’ is insane,” she said.
The tragic incident has prompted calls for investigation by U.S. lawmakers, who are urging tighter rules to protect users from AI models duping real people.