Meta has secured a patent for an artificial intelligence system capable of simulating a user's social media activity - including posts, comments, likes, and direct messages - even after that person has died, raising immediate questions about digital identity, consent, and the ethics of so-called "grief tech."
The patent was originally filed in 2023 and credited to Andrew Bosworth, Meta's chief technology officer. It was granted in late December 2025. The filing describes a large language model that would be trained on a user's historical online activity - including posts, comments, likes, and messages - to replicate their behavior on social platforms.
The system would generate responses to other users' content, engage with posts, and potentially handle direct messages in a way that mirrors the individual's established online presence.
The patent doesn't stop there. The filing also references technology that would allow the AI model to simulate video or audio calls with users.
According to the filing, the model "may be used for simulating the user when the user is absent from the social networking system," including situations where the individual is inactive for an extended period or deceased. It notes that the consequences are "much more severe and permanent" if the user has died and cannot return.
Despite the scope of the patent, Meta says it has no immediate plans to build the technology. A Meta spokesperson told Business Insider the company has "no plans to move forward" with the technology, noting that patents are often filed to protect ideas that may never be developed.
Still, the concept aligns with prior comments from CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who in a 2023 interview suggested AI systems could one day help people interact with digital representations of loved ones, while emphasizing that such technology should depend on user consent.
The idea is not entirely new. In 2021, Microsoft patented a chatbot that would let users talk to specific individuals, including deceased people. Startups offering similar "deadbot" or "griefbot" services have also emerged in recent years.
Researchers are sounding the alarm. Joseph Davis, a sociology professor at the University of Virginia, told Business Insider he was concerned about how simulations might shape the grieving process, arguing that grief involves facing loss rather than blurring it. University of Cambridge researchers have warned the field is an ethical minefield that could cause social and psychological harm, including the potential for griefbots to be used to advertise products or distress children by insisting a dead parent is still with them.
Experts also emphasize that it is not just the deceased who should consent to their new "digital afterlife," but also the people who would interact with the online clones.
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