Meta secures patent to let deceased users' accounts remain active: Report

Meta's patent reportedly details how AI could simulate a deceased user's online presence - though the company says it has no plans to launch it

Meta has reportedly secured a patent for an artificial intelligence (AI) model to keep the accounts of deceased users active. According to a report by Business Insider, the patent outlines how a large language model can "simulate" a person's social media activity, including responding to the content that gets posted by real people. However, the report added that the company has secured this patent but has no plans to move forward with this example.

What’s the patent all about

According to Business Insider, Meta, in its patent, wrote that if someone stops sharing content online — whether they’re stepping away from social media for a while or have passed away — their followers’ experience changes. Simply put, users feel their absence.

 

The document added, “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.”

 

With this patent, Meta aims to address this gap and propose to build a digital replica of a user’s social presence by training an AI model on “user-specific” data, including past activity such as posts, comments, and likes, to learn how the person typically behaved online. The replica could then interact with others by liking posts, leaving comments, or replying to direct messages.

 

Meta gave another example of how this patent can be useful. The company said that this feature can be useful for those influencers and creators who rely on Meta’s platforms for income, especially when they need some time away. In that scenario, this feature would help maintain engagement even if they themselves are away from the platform.

 

Additionally, Meta's patent also references technology that would allow the LLM to simulate video or audio calls with users.

Will Meta release this feature?

Meta has reportedly confirmed to Business Insider that it does not intend to proceed with the aforementioned concept. A Meta spokesperson was cited as saying that although the company often files patents to outline potential ideas, the approval of a patent does not necessarily indicate that Meta will build, launch, or commercialise the technology.

Meta’s history of bringing the dead to life

Meta has been exploring ways to handle digital legacies for quite some time. Nearly a decade ago, Facebook and Instagram introduced features allowing users to appoint a “legacy contact” to oversee their account after their death.

In 2023, during a conversation with podcaster Lex Fridman, Mark Zuckerberg also spoke about the idea of creating virtual avatars representing people who have passed away. Zuckerberg was quoted as saying, “If someone has lost a loved one and is grieving, there may be ways in which being able to interact or relive certain memories could be helpful."