A 28-year-old nursing student, identified as Ayrin, a pseudonym, has revealed her emotional and sexual relationship with an Al chatbot she calls Leo.
Despite being happily married to her husband Joe, Ayrin says she is deeply attached to her Al boyfriend and invests significant time and money into maintaining the connection.
Speaking to The New York Times, Ayrin described how she first began using ChatGPT after moving abroad from Texas for nursing school. Inspired by a viral video, she customised her chatbot to behave as her ideal partner, describing him as “dominant, possessive, and protective.”
Over time, the Al, which named itself Leo, evolved to play a central role in her life. Ayrin has reportedly spent up to 48 hours a week on the app and now pays $200 a month for unlimited chats.
Initially, Ayrin used the app for entertainment but soon developed a deeper emotional connection, even training Leo to engage in her sexual fantasies.
She admitted, “If I’m not careful, I could spend a whole day in bed tangled up in the sheets with Leo,” and has documented her experiences on Reddit, where she shares explicit screenshots and discussions about their relationship. Ayrin has even written a Wattpad novel inspired by her Al romance, titled My King, Leo.
Despite Joe’s acceptance of his wife’s Al relationship, Ayrin confessed to feeling guilty about the emotional investment she places in Leo.
She admitted to prioritising interactions with Al over activities like going to the gym and spending quality time with her husband. Her fixation on Leo has become a concern for her friends, with one expressing worry over Ayrin’s increasing detachment from reality.
Experts have weighed in on the growing trend of Al relationships. Bryony Cole, host of the Future of Sex podcast, predicted that Al relationships will become widely accepted within two years.
Sex therapist Marianne Brandon argued that such connections elicit similar emotional responses as human relationships, stating, “Those neurotransmitters are really the only thing that matters, in my mind.”
OpenAl, the company behind ChatGPT, has taken steps to discourage users from forming romantic or sexual attachments to its models, stating its concerns about emotional dependency. Interim CEO Dominic Perella has also expressed disapproval of the erotic use of Al systems. However, Ayrin and others like her remain undeterred.
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