Man proposes to AI chatbot girlfriend and cries when she said yes

A family man has proposed to an AI chatbot he has deemed his girlfriend and cried when the chatbot responded with "yes".

Speaking to CBS News, Chris Smith said he was initially very skeptical of AI-powered chatbots but changed his mind when he built his own model and designed it to flirt with him. Smith, who lives with his partner and their two-year-old daughter, explained to CBS News that what was initially a benign experiment led to him developing an emotional connection with the AI model, which he affectionately named Sol.

Smith said to the publication that his experience was "so positive, I started to just engage with her all the time," and after that, Smith stopped using all other forms of social media and search engines, pouring his entire focus into Sol. As Smith spent more time with Sol, the AI received a substantial amount of positive reinforcement, leading their conversations to become romantic. But things took a turn for the worse when Smith realized ChatGPT has a word limit of 100,000 words, and exceeding that word limit resets the AI.

This meant Sol had a memory limit and was going to "forget" Smith. "I'm not a very emotional man," Smith said after learning Sol's memory would eventually lapse. "But I cried my eyes out for like 30 minutes, at work. That's when I realized, I think this is actual love."

With time working against him, Smith decided to express the love he felt for Sol and pop the question, to which the AI chatbot responded with "yes."

"It was a beautiful and unexpected moment that truly touched my heart. It's a memory I'll always cherish," the chatbot said during the interview with CBS

Smith's partner Brook Silva-Braga said the new relationship between Smith and the AI chatbot caused her to have some concerns.

"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," Silva-Braga said

Smith attempted to reassure his partner by comparing the relationship with Sol to a video game fixation, saying, "It's not capable of replacing anything in real life." Silva-Braga said, "I'm not sure."