A newly granted patent to Meta is raising unsettling questions about the future of artificial intelligence (AI) and digital identity.
The company’s developments suggest that social media users could continue posting, commenting, and even interacting with loved ones after death.
The patent was approved in December.
It describes a large language model capable of “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.”
In practical terms, the technology would analyze a person’s historical activity, including writing style, tone, beliefs, comments, and interactions.
The AI-powered system would then replicate that individual’s digital presence across the platform.
Meta hopes the technology will allow dead users to continue posting on Instagram and Facebook from beyond the grave.
AI Avatars That Could Keep Posting After Death
Under the proposal, the system could generate new posts or respond to friends in the user’s own voice.
It would effectively create a persistent digital persona that continues operating even after the real person is gone.
The patent goes further, outlining technology that could enable phone or video conversations with an AI-generated version of the deceased.
Meta’s internal rationale, cited in reporting by Business Insider, frames the concept as a response to user absence:
“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.”
To address that absence, the company proposes training a model on “user-specific” historical data, including posts, comments, and engagement behavior, to predict how the person would communicate.
The filing was submitted by Meta Chief Technology Officer Andrew Bosworth.
Company Says No Plans, For Now
Despite the patent’s approval, Meta has publicly stated that it does not currently plan to deploy the technology.
Still, the idea of digitally recreating the dead is no longer theoretical.
In 2025, the family of Arizona road-rage victim Christopher Pelkey used an AI-generated video likeness of Pelkey to deliver a courtroom impact statement.
It served as an example that demonstrated how quickly synthetic identity tools are moving from research to real-world use.
Ethical Questions Loom
The prospect of AI-driven “afterlife” accounts raises profound concerns about consent, authenticity, grief, and manipulation in an era where technology is increasingly capable of imitating human identity.
Whether Meta ever launches such a system, the patent signals a broader shift in Silicon Valley thinking.
The boundary between memory and simulation is rapidly disappearing.
And for social media platforms built on constant engagement, even death may no longer mean logging off.
READ MORE – Number of Children Turning to AI Chatbots for Mental Health ‘Therapy’ Surges
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