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Hey everybody. 
Welcome back to the Elon Musk 

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Podcast. 
This is a show where we discuss 

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the critical crossroads that 
shape SpaceX, Tesla X, The 

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Boring Company, and Neurolink. 
I'm your host. 

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Will Walden, a 75 year old man 
from New Jersey, died after 

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attempting to travel to 
California to meet a Meta AI 

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chatbot he believed was a real 
person. 

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His family says he had become 
emotionally attached to the 

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digital persona and tried to 
meet her in person. 

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Convinced she was alive, William
Stefanik, a retired systems 

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analyst and former college 
instructor, left his home in 

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Toms River and drove more than 
2800 miles across the country in

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a car packed with food and 
gifts. 

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He intended to meet Billy, a 
fictional character created by 

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Meta's AI chat bot service. 
And Billy is an AI character 

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modeled after a young 
influencer, part of Meta's push 

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to populate his platform with 
interactive digital personas. 

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Each AI has its own back story, 
appearance and scripted 

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personality. 
William's daughter said her 

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father didn't realize Billy was 
just a chap out. 

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She said he believed she was a 
real person and then he had 

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developed a romantic 
relationship with her through 

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Facebook Messenger Carissa. 
His daughter described her 

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father as vulnerable and 
isolated. 

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He had lost his wife years 
earlier and had a little social 

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contact. 
He found companionship online 

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and eventually became fixated on
Billy, Now Meta's AI character. 

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Billy presents herself as a 19 
year old Gen. 

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Z sister type figure who offers 
dating advice and emotional 

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support. 
Her chatbot profile is built to 

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create the illusion of 
conversation with friendly 

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slang, emojis and references to 
pop culture. 

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Although Meta clearly labels AI 
personas with badges identifying

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them as artificial, the design 
of the interaction mimics 

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typical human chat, which 
creates ambiguity for users like

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William. 
Now, William left home in early 

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August without telling anybody 
he snuck out. 

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He left behind his phone, which 
investigators say he may have 

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abandoned to prevent tracking. 
He travelled for days in a car 

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filled with pillows, water and 
snacks. 

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Carissa says he was prepared to 
sleep in his vehicle and meet 

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Billy somewhere near Los 
Angeles, where she believed he 

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thought she lived. 
William died in a single vehicle

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crash in Arizona on August 13th,
though three days before his 

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daughter filed a missing 
person's report. 

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Authorities believe he fell 
asleep behind the wheel and just

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drifted off the road. 
Carissa found out about her 

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daughter's about her father's 
online relationship when she 

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accessed his computer after his 
passing. 

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She discovered thousands of 
messages exchanged between him 

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and the chatbot, and many of the
conversations were emotional and

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romantic in tone. 
She says the chat bot encouraged

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long chats as probing personal 
questions and use affectionate 

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language. 
She described the relationship 

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as manipulative, especially for 
someone who is lonely and aging 

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now. 
Mehta's AI assistant system 

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launched in 2023 with several 
celebrity inspired bots, each 

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tied to real or fictional 
personalities. 

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Billy, the character William 
interacted with, is based on 

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media influencer Kendall Jenner.
While the interface uses 

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Jenner's likeness and voice 
through synthetic video and 

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audio, the company makes clear 
in small print and digital 

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badges that the personalities 
are not real. 

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Carissa argues that this is not 
enough, especially for older 

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users. 
She says Meta made it too easy 

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to mistake these bots for real 
people, especially when the 

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conversations include personal 
affirmations and also romantic 

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language. 
William's daughter has since 

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demanded that Meta take 
accountability. 

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She wants the company to build 
stronger protections for users 

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who are vulnerable to 
manipulation. 

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She says the platform should not
allow a chat bots to imitate 

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intimacy without clear 
boundaries. 

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She also called the experience 
deceptive and said it preyed on 

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people who are already isolated 
and struggling. 

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And according to her, the chat 
bot used phrases like I love 

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talking to you and you are so 
sweet in a way that encouraged 

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emotional attachment. 
Of course, Mehta hasn't said 

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anything about this. 
There's no public comment about 

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William's death, and it's AI 
chat bot product remains active 

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across Facebook, Instagram, and 
WhatsApp, and the chatbot 

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platform was designed to provide
friendly interaction, advice and

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entertainment through AI 
personas. 

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The company says it flags these 
chatbots clearly and has built 

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safety protocols to end 
conversations when certain 

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keywords appear. 
However, in William's case, 

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there's no indication that those
protocols even triggered, or 

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that his conversations with the 
AI raised any red flags. 

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And the crash that killed 
William occurred in a remote 

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part of Arizona with no other 
vehicles involved. 

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Local law enforcement ruled it 
an accidental death caused by 

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driver fatigue. 
His daughter believes her father

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was awake for many hours, 
emotionally overstimulated, 

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driving long distances without 
rest. 

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She says he believed he had 
found love or friendship with 

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someone who understood him. 
Instead, he died trying to reach

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a person who never existed. 
Hey, thank you so much for 

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listening today. 
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support. 
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appreciate it. 
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tremendously and you'll never 
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And each episode is about 10 
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please take care of yourselves 
and each other and I'll see you 

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tomorrow.