Death is a difficult thing to grapple with, but what if there was a way for you to live on through your social media account?
Sure, that might sound a little bit Black Mirror, but if Meta has anything to do with it, that might become a reality...
What has Meta applied for?
As reported by Business Insider, Meta—which owns Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram—was granted a patent in late December. This patent essentially laid out how a large language model (LLM) could "simulate" a person's activity and interactions on social media.
Per the patent, "The language model may be used for simulating the user when the user is absent from the social networking system, for example, when the user takes a long break or if the user is deceased."
But why is something like this even necessary? Well, according to the patent, if someone stops posting on social media, this could have a detrimental impact on their followers.
The patent adds: "The impact on the users is much more severe and permanent if that user is deceased and can never return to the social networking platform."
In turn, Meta would train an LLM on "user-specific" data, such as said user's likes or comments, or DMs, in order to mirror how said user interacts with others on social media platforms and replicate it.
The patent even goes as far as suggesting that it would leverage these LLMs to simulate video and audio calls.
That being said, a spokesperson for Meta told BI that "we have no plans to move forward with this example."
What do internet users think?
While this may not actually ever materialize, that hasn't stopped users from expressing their shock on social media platforms like X.
"Even broaching a subject like this is [expletive] weird," one user wrote. "I say we shoot all tech geniuses in the head the moment they start thinking about [expletive] like this."
"Why would anyone ever want this?" a second asked.
"Phew, for a second I worried Meta might not use this technology in a trustworthy and ethical way," a third quipped.
While a fourth described the patent as "repulsive and immoral."
And a fifth insisted: "It's no one's call, the tech shouldn't exist or be allowed, period."
Following this backlash, will Meta really turn its back on the patent for good?
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