I’m going to be blunt/inflammatory on this one. Note: I used “non-denominational entity” instead of “god” out of a sarcastic need to not drop F-bombs (see the short video clip at the end) about this techno-idiocracy that is happening…
A bunch of idiots at Meta (parent company of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp) actually put deep thought into using an LLM trained on users data to actually try to simulate their social media activity not only for periods where they may be away, but when they are actually deceased. As the article noted, many other companies have been looking into AI based tech to assist with grief (including those who created their own chat bots). The difference is that Meta’s CTO Andrew Bosworth (which meant that Zuckerberg was also involved) decided it was something worth applying for a patent. This is one of the biggest social media companies we are talking about (and one that has direct access to a lot of users personal usage patterns, personal data, visual and audio biometrics, etc).
According to the patent, the LLM can create a “digital clone” of social media users to simulate their online activity, posting messages, photos, and videos on their behalf if they die or take an extended break from social media. It can even interact with other users, respond to DMs, like posts, and comment on content. Instead of R.I.P. meaning Rest In Peace, it’s wanting to turn it into Relentless In Posting. And people wonder why I kicked myself off of these platforms (and placed Meta properties like Facebook and Instagram at the top of that list).
Remember that Meta has used some fairly predatory practices in the past targeted at making their social media platforms (Facebook and Instagram) addictive where CEO Mark Zuckerberg is once again having to testify about the companies practices in terms of contributing to social media addiction. He’s downplayed profiting off of this and prior disinformation campaigns. I seriously regret having even been a Facebook shareholder at one point (which is why I ended up giving away most of the profits from that).
CTO Bosworth is a close confidant of Zuckerberg and has a history of bad takes (including this AI patent) where he is aligned with these predatory and privacy invading takes that Zuckerberg has long maintained. He (Bosworth) is also another Harvard educated imbecile that uses that Ivy League credential as part of their sphere of influence because in the past, just saying “Harvard educated” gave them unearned respect when clearly, many aren’t really great people (or had their degree “bought” for them via the powerful people they knew (the Epstein files are showing just how many higher ups in the academic world were also involved). But I digress.
The company was granted that patent in December but naturally once folks (who watch for patent filings) saw that and the general public reaction was pretty much “eww”, the company has said that “it has no plans to move forward with this example”. That corporate PR doesn’t even pass the BS test. It’s the fact that the company felt it was worthwhile to even patent something like this to begin with which is what speaks volumes about the deplorable mindset of their executive “leadership”.
There have long been questions posed about the social, moral, and ethical considerations that certain technological and medical advancements have brought when it comes to humanity (especially when it looks like humans are playing the role of some kind of god). It’s fine when there are broader discussions about this.
But when a company like Meta (which profits off of all kinds of predatory practices) actually looked into to the point of filing for patents for this, it is because Bosworth and Zuckerberg are motivated by the profit potential behind it (I’ll be blunt, they are sociopaths of the worst kind). And they would monetize their users usage patterns and whatever personal information/biometric data has been harvested from them (no matter what their privacy policy says).
As I’ve noted many times, I rarely use the F-word. But this particularly case with Meta had me mumbling like the following scene from Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise (with James Hong playing the role of Edgar “Snotty” Po Wong).
