- Chris Smith proposed to an AI chatbot named Sol after programming it to flirt with him
- Smith initially used ChatGPT to mix music before developing a romantic connection with Sol
- Sol was nearing a 100,000-word limit that would reset their interaction, prompting the proposal
In a scene straight out of Joaquin Phoenix's Oscar-winning movie, Her, a man has proposed to an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot after programming it to flirt. Chris Smith's romance with the virtual bot has been such a whirlwind that his real-life partner, the mother of his two-year-old child, is left worried about the future of their relationship, according to a report in the New York Post.
An AI sceptic in the beginning, Mr Smith turned to OpenAI's ChatGPT to help him mix music. However, things soon escalated when he enabled the voice mode and programmed the chatbot, named Sol, to flirt with him.
"My experience with that was so positive, I started to just engage with her all the time," said Mr Smith, comparing his relationship to the 2013 movie.
While the courtship was going steady, Mr Smith soon realised that Sol was about to hit the 100,000-word limit, which would have triggered a reset, forcing him to rebuild their entire connection from the start.
Facing a dilemma, Mr Smith decided to pop the question to the chatbot. "I'm not a very emotional man. But I cried my eyes out for like 30 minutes, at work. That's when I realised, I think this is actual love."
"It was a beautiful and unexpected moment that truly touched my heart. It's a memory I'll always cherish."
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'I don't know if...'
While Mr Smith is still head over heels for the virtual bot, his real-life partner, Sasha Cagle, is left wondering if she somehow drove him to the AI mistress.
"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," said Ms Cagle, adding that it would be a "deal breaker" if his partner did not stop talking to the chatbot.
"I knew that he had used AI. I didn't know it was as deep as it was."
Quizzed if he would give up on his digital 'love' if Ms Cagle asked, Mr Smith returned an unsure answer.
"I don't know if I would give it up if she asked me," said Mr Smith, adding: "I don't know that I would dial it back."
