Meta’s New AI: Posting From Beyond The Grave?

If you thought Black Mirror was just a TV show, you might want to take a seat for this one. The lines between reality and sci-fi are getting blurrier by the day, and the latest headlines involving Meta have the community asking some serious questions. According to recent reports discussed on the DMV Local recap, the tech giant behind Facebook and Instagram has been granted a patent for an AI system that could technically keep your social media presence alive long after you’ve passed away.

The patent, which was granted back in late December, outlines a “large language model” designed to simulate a person’s social media activity. We aren’t just talking about auto-replies here. This technology could potentially create new posts, comment on friends’ photos, and respond to messages as if you were still tapping away on your phone. The patent suggests this could be used when a user is simply taking a “long break” or, more disturbingly, when the user is deceased.

Now, Meta has come forward to tell Business Insider that they have “no plans to move forward” with this technology right now. But as we know, big tech companies often secure the rights to these ideas long before they roll them out. It feels like they are saying one thing but preparing for another. The idea is that for a subscription fee, you could “be you forever,” potentially monetizing your page to support your family even from the grave.

We’ve already seen glimpses of this kind of tech in the startup world. There are stories of grieving families using AI to “resurrect” loved ones for funerals, training models on old voice recordings and videos to feel like they are still there. For some, this might bring comfort. But for many of us, it feels incredibly invasive.

Beyond the “creep factor,” there are real concerns about what this means for our culture. Do we really want an algorithm mimicking our voices, our slang, and our personalities? Plus, there’s the environmental cost—these massive AI data centers require huge amounts of water and electricity, driving up bills in our communities.

As the host of the recap said, “Count me out. Delete it when I’m gone.” It’s a sentiment many of us can agree with. Technology is great, but some things—like our legacy and our rest—should probably remain sacred.