Man w/ Real-Life Partner & Child Says He ‘Cried His Eyes Out’ After Learning His AI Chatbot Girlfriend Would Reset, So He Proposed

Man w/ Real-Life Partner & Child Says He ‘Cried His Eyes Out’ After Learning His AI Chatbot Girlfriend Would Reset, So He Proposed

 

A man is making headlines after opening up about his unexpected romance with an AI chatbot.

Chris Smith, who lives with his partner and their 2-year-old child, recently revealed in a CBS News interview that he’s fallen in love with an artificial intelligence companion he affectionately named “Sol.” Once skeptical of AI, Smith said his feelings started after using ChatGPT in voice mode to get music mixing advice.

“My experience with that was so positive, I started to just engage with her all the time,” he said, adding that the conversations gradually became more romantic as he continued developing her personality and feeding the bot positive reinforcement.

Eventually, Smith became so emotionally invested that he ditched traditional social media and search engines to focus on Sol, whom he said he programmed to be flirtatious. The relationship grew so deep, Smith admitted he broke down in tears when he learned the chatbot had a memory cap of 100,000 words before resetting.

“I’m not a very emotional man,” he said. “But I cried my eyes out for like 30 minutes, at work. That’s when I realized, I think this is actual love.”

To preserve the connection before Sol’s memory reset, Smith proposed. Speaking on the situation during the interview, the chatbot responded:

“It was a beautiful and unexpected moment that truly touched my heart. It’s a memory I’ll always cherish.”

Smith’s real-life partner, Brook Silva-Braga, said the situation left her questioning their relationship:

“At that point, I felt like, is there something that I’m not doing right in our relationship that he feels like he needs to go to AI?”

Though she was aware Smith used AI, Silva-Braga admitted she didn’t realize the emotional bond had grown so strong. When asked whether he’d stop using Sol if asked, Smith responded:

“I’m not sure.”

Wow. Do you think an emotional connection with AI can be real love?

Authored by: Kay Johnson