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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
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