Hey everybody. Welcome back to the Elon Musk Podcast. This is a show where we discuss the critical crossroads that shape SpaceX, Tesla X, The Boring Company, and Neurolink. I'm your host. Will Walden, a 75 year old man from New Jersey, died after attempting to travel to California to meet a Meta AI chatbot he believed was a real person. His family says he had become emotionally attached to the digital persona and tried to meet her in person.
Convinced she was alive, William Stefanik, a retired systems analyst and former college instructor, left his home in Toms River and drove more than 2800 miles across the country in a car packed with food and gifts. He intended to meet Billy, a fictional character created by Meta's AI chat bot service. And Billy is an AI character modeled after a young influencer, part of Meta's push to populate his platform with interactive digital personas.
Each AI has its own back story, appearance and scripted personality. William's daughter said her father didn't realize Billy was just a chap out. She said he believed she was a real person and then he had developed a romantic relationship with her through Facebook Messenger Carissa. His daughter described her father as vulnerable and isolated. He had lost his wife years earlier and had a little social
contact. He found companionship online and eventually became fixated on Billy, Now Meta's AI character. Billy presents herself as a 19 year old Gen. Z sister type figure who offers dating advice and emotional support. Her chatbot profile is built to create the illusion of conversation with friendly slang, emojis and references to pop culture.
Although Meta clearly labels AI personas with badges identifying them as artificial, the design of the interaction mimics typical human chat, which creates ambiguity for users like William. Now, William left home in early August without telling anybody he snuck out. He left behind his phone, which investigators say he may have abandoned to prevent tracking. He travelled for days in a car filled with pillows, water and snacks.
Carissa says he was prepared to sleep in his vehicle and meet Billy somewhere near Los Angeles, where she believed he thought she lived. William died in a single vehicle crash in Arizona on August 13th, though three days before his daughter filed a missing person's report. Authorities believe he fell asleep behind the wheel and just drifted off the road. Carissa found out about her daughter's about her father's online relationship when she accessed his computer after his passing.
She discovered thousands of messages exchanged between him and the chatbot, and many of the conversations were emotional and romantic in tone. She says the chat bot encouraged long chats as probing personal questions and use affectionate language. She described the relationship as manipulative, especially for someone who is lonely and aging now. Mehta's AI assistant system launched in 2023 with several celebrity inspired bots, each tied to real or fictional personalities.
Billy, the character William interacted with, is based on media influencer Kendall Jenner. While the interface uses Jenner's likeness and voice through synthetic video and audio, the company makes clear in small print and digital badges that the personalities are not real. Carissa argues that this is not enough, especially for older
users. She says Meta made it too easy to mistake these bots for real people, especially when the conversations include personal affirmations and also romantic language. William's daughter has since demanded that Meta take accountability. She wants the company to build stronger protections for users who are vulnerable to manipulation. She says the platform should not allow a chat bots to imitate intimacy without clear boundaries.
She also called the experience deceptive and said it preyed on people who are already isolated and struggling. And according to her, the chat bot used phrases like I love talking to you and you are so sweet in a way that encouraged emotional attachment. Of course, Mehta hasn't said
anything about this. There's no public comment about William's death, and it's AI chat bot product remains active across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, and the chatbot platform was designed to provide friendly interaction, advice and entertainment through AI personas. The company says it flags these chatbots clearly and has built safety protocols to end conversations when certain
keywords appear. However, in William's case, there's no indication that those protocols even triggered, or that his conversations with the AI raised any red flags. And the crash that killed William occurred in a remote part of Arizona with no other vehicles involved. Local law enforcement ruled it an accidental death caused by driver fatigue. His daughter believes her father was awake for many hours, emotionally overstimulated, driving long distances without rest.
She says he believed he had found love or friendship with someone who understood him. Instead, he died trying to reach a person who never existed. Hey, thank you so much for listening today. I really do appreciate your support. If you could take a second and hit the subscribe or the follow button on whatever podcast platform that you're listening on right now, I greatly appreciate it. It helps out the show tremendously and you'll never miss an episode.
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