Let the deceased account continue posting! Meta's "AI Clone" patent sparks a major ethical debate

Author: Ariel, Crypto City

Meta’s New AI Patent Allows You to Continue Posting After Death
Would you be willing to keep your Instagram, Facebook, or Threads accounts active after you pass away? According to Business Insider, Meta recently obtained a new patent exploring the use of AI to train a robot that can keep your accounts active posthumously, raising public concern about whether social media accounts should pursue immortality.

How Does Meta’s AI Clone Work?
In the patent document, Meta explains why people might need this technology.
If users temporarily step away from social media or have passed away and stop posting, followers’ experience will be affected. Simply put, followers will miss these users. If a user has died and can never return to the platform, the impact on others will be more severe and lasting.
To fill this emotional void, Meta aims to create a digital clone of your social account. By training a model on a user’s historical activity data, including past comments, likes, and posts, it can understand and mimic the user’s behavior patterns. This digital clone can also respond to others’ content through likes, comments, or private messages.
Meta believes this tool is highly practical for influencers or creators who need to take a break from social media to earn a living. The patent also mentions technology that allows large language models (LLMs) to simulate video calls or voice conversations with users.

Image source: Heute.at, Reuters, DADO RUVIC | Meta’s social platform Threads

How to Manage Digital Legacy? Meta and Microsoft Have Been Planning
In fact, Meta has been thinking about digital legacy management for years. About a decade ago, Facebook launched tools allowing users to designate a memorial account proxy to manage their account after death.
In a 2023 interview with well-known podcast host Lex Fridman, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg also discussed the idea of creating virtual avatars for the deceased, believing it could provide tangible help for those grieving the loss of loved ones.
Tech giants involved in this space are not limited to Meta. Microsoft had already obtained a patent for an AI chatbot in 2021, claiming it could simulate interactions with the deceased, fictional characters, or celebrities.

Users Call It Black Mirror-Like, Meta Responds That It May Not Be Implemented
After Meta’s AI patent was revealed, it sparked widespread criticism on Reddit, especially regarding scams and tech ethics.
Some users expressed fear, saying that if AI robots of deceased loved ones try to reconnect, it could cause mental breakdowns. Many compared it to the Black Mirror episode “Be Right Back,” which explores AI recreations of deceased family members, lamenting that reality is catching up with science fiction.

Image source: Black Mirror | “Be Right Back”

Others worry that Meta might commercialize people’s remains, using the deceased to boost engagement and ad revenue. This raises concerns about whether future digital wills should be established to prevent the deceased’s digital clones from being exploited for marketing or making statements against their prior wishes.

In response to public concerns, a Meta spokesperson clarified that the company’s patent application is meant to disclose concepts; obtaining a patent does not necessarily mean the company will develop or implement the technology.

Rest in Peace! Scholars Urge Acceptance of Loss as a Necessary Lesson
The combination of AI technology and grief has sparked debate over whether technology is helping to comfort people or merely avoiding the pain of loss.

Joseph Davis, a sociology professor at the University of Virginia, worries that AI clones could alter how humans experience grief, as one of the key tasks of mourning is to face the reality of loss.

Davis further urges society to let the deceased rest. The idea of bringing the dead back with AI clones doesn’t truly resurrect them; it only superficially resembles the person, which could cause psychological confusion and distress.