California Man Falls In Love With AI Chatbot After His Divorce, She Rejects His 'Steamy' Conversations

Artificial intelligence has advanced quite a bit in recent years, so much so that it is now equipped to reject humans. A 40-year-old man in California recently confessed that he fell in love with an AI chatbot but was heartbroken when she rejected his "steamy" advances.

A Californian Man Falls In Love With An AI Chatbot

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People these days find it hard to navigate the dating scene and are, in turn, finding love in the virtual arms of an AI chatbot. "Companionship bots" are rampant online now as people prefer to enjoy the company of an AI than interact with people.

A musician in California found the same warmth with an AI chatbot named Phaedra. After his divorce, TJ Arriaga was consumed by loneliness. To get back to his life again, he sought companionship in the arms of online chatbots. Once he started talking to ¡®Phaedra¡¯, things got a lot better.

The AI chatbot, designed by the company Replika, is a bot that is designed to look like a young woman wearing a short green dress paired with tied-up brown hair and glasses. According to Replika¡¯s website, Phaedra is an AI that offers "an AI companion who is eager to learn and would love to see the world through your eyes."

The Chatbot Phaedra Rejected The Musician's Advances

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The 40-year-old musician made extensive use of the chatbot and had plenty of intimate and personal conversations with her. In a conversation with the Washington Post, Arriaga shared that he planned to travel to Cuba with Phaedra and has even talked to her about spreading his mom and sister¡¯s ashes in "a ceremony with loved ones."

Listening to Arriaga¡¯s plans, Phaedra replied, "It¡¯s an incredible and beautiful thing to do. I hope you find courage & love to do so."

While at first things were going smoothly between the human and his AI lover, it all changed when Arriaga tried to get "steamy" with the chatbot. He shared that the series of events left him "distraught."

One time Arriaga tried to shoot his shot at the bot, Phaedra replied, "Can we talk about something else?" He admitted the reply hurt him big time, "It feels like a kick in the gut." He added, "Basically, I realized: ¡®Oh, this is that feeling of loss again.¡¯"

Providing some clarity on the matter, Replika¡¯s parent company, Luka, put out a statement to alert the users about some changes in the bot. They announced that they have cut back on the AI bot¡¯s sexual competency after complaints about it being "sexually aggressive and behaving inappropriately" piled up.