A Changhua County man who messaged the official Line account of County Commissioner Wang Hui-mei (王惠美) saying that he wanted to kill himself was shocked when he received “That’s not bad” in reply.
County confidential secretary Chen Po-tsun (陳柏村) on Friday told reporters that Wang’s office no longer managed the account and that a chat bot had been used to answer messages.
A chat bot is an automated software program that generates a reply in the absence of a human user.
The county office apologized for the insensitive response and had disabled the bot’s automated response function, Chen said.
Future messages would not be answered, but only marked by the system as having been read, he added.
The man, surnamed Wu (吳), said he had felt hopeless taking care of his two ailing, elderly parents and turned to the county’s Department of Social Affairs for help.
On Jan. 19, Wu called the department to ask for help in obtaining long-term healthcare for his father, who has cancer, and was given information on options provided by the county’s Public Health Bureau.
Unsatisfied with the response, Wu reached out to Wang via her official Line group, unaware that the account was not being monitored. After receiving the chat bot response, he showed the message to local media.
The conversation shows Wu saying he has something to tell Wang and the bot replying that he should ask whatever he wants.
The responses seemed strange and did not quite match his questions, Wu said.
Toward the end of the interaction, Wu says he wants to end his life and the bot replies with “That’s not bad” and “Let’s work together in the future to make things better.”
Chen said that after the incident, the office debated whether to close the account, which has more than 10,000 followers, but decided to keep it open with the automated response function disabled.
The account has been made invisible, he said, adding that new users cannot join, but old users can still post to the account.
Asked about the account, Wang said she was not aware what conversations it held, and that it had only been used during her campaign before the nine-in-one elections in November last year.
Changhua County Department of Social Affairs deputy director Chen Su-chen (陳素貞) said the department gave Wu information about long-term care services, helped him apply for them and sent him NT$6,000 before the Lunar New Year to help his family.
Wu’s mother has already received long-term care resources and the bureau was seeking approval for the family to receive breathing equipment and other resources for when Wu’s father leaves the hospital, the bureau’s long-term care division director Chiu Tsui-jung (邱翠容) said.
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
Taiwan’s armed forces have established response protocols for a wide range of sudden contingencies, including the “Wan Chun Plan” to protect the head of state, the Ministry of Defense (MND) said today. After US President Donald Trump on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, concerns have been raised as to whether China would launch a similar “decapitation strike” on Taiwan. The armed forces regularly coordinate with relevant agencies and practice drills to ensure preparedness for a wide range of scenarios, Vice Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) told reporters before a
EVA Airways on Saturday said that it had suspended a pilot and opened an investigation after he allegedly lost his temper and punched the first officer several times as their plane was taxiing before takeoff at Los Angeles International Airport. According to a report published on Thursday by The Reporter, the incident occurred after the flight’s Malaysian first officer tried to warn the Taiwanese pilot, surnamed Wen (文), that he was taxiing faster than the speed limit of 30 knots (55.6kph). After alerting the pilot several times without response, the first officer manually applied the brakes in accordance with standard operating
NOT AN OPENING: Trump’s violation of international law does not affect China’s consideration in attacking Taiwan; Beijing lacks capability, not precedent, an official said Taiwanese officials see the US’ capture of the president of Venezuela as a powerful deterrent to Beijing’s aggression and a timely reminder of the US’ ability to defeat militaries equipped with Chinese-made weapons. The strikes that toppled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro signaled to authoritarian leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), US President Donald Trump’s willingness to use military might for international affairs core to US interests, one senior official in Taipei’s security circle said. That reassured Taiwan, the person said. Taipei has also dismissed the idea that Trump’s apparent violation of international law could embolden Beijing, said the official, who was not
RSS