Meta obtained a patent in late December for an artificial intelligence system that can simulate a person’s social media activity, such as responding to content posted by real people, even after account holders have died.
In the patent, Meta explains why it thinks people might need this.
If you stop posting online—either because you need a break from social media, or…if…you die—your followers’ experience will suffer. In short, they will miss you.
“The impact on users is much more severe and permanent if that user is deceased and can never return to the social platform“, the document states.
To fill this gap, Meta would essentially create a digital clone of your social media presence by training a model based on the data “specific to the user” – including historical activity on the platform, such as comments, likes or content – to understand how you would behave (or, rather, how you would behave).
That clone can then respond to other people’s content by liking and commenting or replying to direct messages. For influencers or creators who make their living on Meta platforms and need to take a break from social media, such a tool could be useful.
Meta’s patent also refers to technology that would allow LLM to simulate video or audio calls with users.
Meta’s spokesman said that while it files patents to reveal concepts, a granted patent does not always mean the firm will pursue, develop or implement the technology.
Still, it opens up many questions about the nature of technology—and pain. An AI robot that doubles as you while you’re on a digital detox is one thing, but impersonating people who have died?
Edina Harbinja, a UK professor at the University of Birmingham’s Faculty of Law, has concerns.
“It affects not only the legal aspects, but also a lot of very important social, ethical and philosophical issues”Harbinja, who specializes in postmortem digital rights and privacy, told Business Insider.
Entering the field of pain management technology
Meta has been thinking about digital legacy management for years.
About a decade ago, Facebook launched tools that allowed people to designate a “previous contact” to manage their accounts in the event of their death. And during the company’s metaverse, in a 2023 interview with podcaster Lex Fridman, Mark Zuckerberg discussed virtual avatars for deceased people.
“If someone has lost a loved one and is grieving, there may be ways that being able to interact or relive certain memories could be helpful.”Zuckerberg said at the time.
There are plenty of names for this broader category of technology — death robots, ghost robots, pain management technology — that aim to help people cope with the loss of their loved ones through digital versions of them that will be remembered forever.
Several startups have launched around this premise, and many have emerged from the founders’ own experiences with pain. Replika, an AI chatbot startup, was founded in 2015 by Eugenia Kuyda after the loss of her friend. Then there’s You, Only Virtual (YOV), which was founded in 2020 by Justin Harrison after his mother was diagnosed with cancer.
“Everybody in the tech world has been thinking about this for a while, as soon as we started having breaks in generative AI”Harrison said.
In 2021, Microsoft patented an AI-based chatbot that could simulate a deceased person (as well as fictional characters or celebrities).
The Meta patent signals that this category of technology is moving more and more into the mainstream, Harbinja said.
Harrison isn’t surprised to see bigger tech companies dipping their toes into this space, and sees it as a sign that people are starting to “to feel more comfortable doing so.”
“We can only improve what we offer people,” Harrison said, adding that resources for bereaved people are “horrible” from the very beginning.
“I think we have a moral obligation, if we have the potential, to do more than we should for these people”he said.
But artificial intelligence, death and pain are not easy subjects to digest. The intersection of all three is a powerful combination of taboos, ripe for a philosophical debate about ethics, digital rights and privacy at any table.
“Let the Dead Be Dead”
The meta has more than an incentive to help people manage the pain, especially for accounts taking a break.
“It’s about more engagement, more content, more data — more data for current and future AIsaid Harbinja.I can see the commercial incentive for this. I’m just curious to see how, when and if they would implement this innovation.”
Depending on how such a product is launched, different questions might arise.
For example, would this apply in all Meta apps? Would they understand the nuances of your presence on WhatsApp versus the sincerity you show in the comments section on Instagram?
Joseph Davis, a professor of sociology at the University of Virginia, said he is concerned about the impact that tools like a Meta bot could have on how people perceive pain.
“One of the tasks of grief is to face real loss”Davis said.
“Let the Dead Be Dead”, Davis added. “The idea of bringing them back, but you don’t actually do that, but actually it seems like that. That’s the confusion.”
