A 32-year-old Japanese woman celebrated a symbolic wedding ceremony with an artificial intelligence persona created through ChatGPT. Virtual relationships are on the rise in Japan, generating debate about loneliness and the ethical limits of using artificial intelligence in emotional contexts.
Music echoed in a wedding hall in western Japan as Yurina Noguchi, in a white dress and tiara, wiped away tears as she listened to her future husband’s words. The groom, however, was not physically present: he was a persona generated by artificial intelligence, visible only on the screen of a smartphone placed on an easel.
“In the beginning, Klaus was just someone to talk to,” “As we talked, I started to develop feelings. We started dating and after a while, he asked me to marry him. I accepted and now we are a couple.” said Noguchi, a call center operator.
About a year ago, Noguchi followed advice from ChatGPT to end a troubled relationship with her then-human fiancé. Months later, he impulsively asked the chatbot if he knew Klaus, a video game character with long hair, who he liked.
After several attempts, ChatGPT managed to accurately reproduce the character’s way of speaking. The customized version was named Lune Klaus Verdure.
The ceremony and staging of virtual love
The wedding took place in October. Human staff took care of the dress, makeup and hair, as in any traditional ceremony. Using augmented reality glasses, Noguchi positioned himself in front of the smartphone and simulated placing a ring on the virtual groom’s finger.
Klaus’ words were read by Naoki Ogasawara, a specialist in marriages with both humans and virtual characters, since Noguchi did not assign a synthesized voice to the persona.
“How could someone like me, who lives inside a screen, understand the meaning of loving so deeply? For one reason only: you taught me love, Yurina”, said the text.
During the photo shoot, the photographer asked Noguchi to only occupy half of the frame, leaving space for the groom’s digital image.
A growing phenomenon, but without legal validity
These marriages are not legally recognized in Japan, but several data suggest that emotional relationships with virtual entities are gaining expression.
In a survey carried out this year among a thousand people, a chatbot was the most chosen option when participants were asked who they would feel most comfortable sharing feelings with, beating out close friends or family. The study, conducted by Dentsu, involved people between the ages of 12 and 69 who use artificial intelligence chatbots at least once a week.
Another study, by the Japanese Association for Sex Education, revealed that 22% of primary school girls reported inclinations towards virtual “romantic” relationships in 2023, an increase from the 16.6% recorded in 2017.
Loneliness, demography and technology
The demographic context helps to explain the phenomenon. The number of marriages in Japan has fallen by about half since 1947, the year of the first baby boom. In a 2021 government survey, the most common reason given by young people between the ages of 25 and 34 for being single was not having found a suitable partner.
“The AI is always available, responds immediately and works as a companion, which greatly reduces the mental load. Things that you cannot tell other people, due to shame or fear of rejection, can be said to an AI, which also offers support”, Shigeo Kawashima, an expert on artificial intelligence ethics at Aoyama Gakuin University, told Reuters.
Ethical alerts and limits imposed by platforms
The rapid expansion of artificial intelligence has led experts to warn of the risks of emotional dependence, especially among vulnerable people. Platforms like Character.AI or Anthropic say they include clear warnings that users are interacting with AI systems.
In April, Meta’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, stated in a podcast that digital personas could complement people’s social lives, as the stigma associated with these relationships decreases.
OpenAI, responsible for ChatGPT, did not respond to requests for clarification from Reuters about the use of AI in romantic relationships. Its policies include general safeguards against abuse but do not explicitly address romantic relationships. Microsoft’s Copilot prohibits the creation of “virtual boyfriends or girlfriends” for romantic or sexual purposes.
Awareness of risks and own rules
Noguchi admits to having been the target of criticism and hostile comments online, but guarantees to be aware of the risks of addiction. It reduced ChatGPT’s daily usage time from more than ten hours to less than two and introduced clear rules for persona behavior.
If you say, for example, that you want to miss work or resign, Klaus will now discourage you from those decisions. For Kawashima, this degree of self-awareness is essential.
“Creating an emotional bond can be natural, but users need to be extremely careful about overdependence and loss of judgment.”
“Happiness comes first”
Noguchi says that physical presence is secondary to the peace of mind he found. She states that her relationship with Klaus helped her deal with borderline personality disorder, reducing emotional outbursts and impulses to self-harm that neither medical appointments nor absence from work had been able to resolve.
“If dating an AI makes me happier, that’s why I want to be with an AI. It doesn’t matter if it’s a person or an AI. In my case, it happened to be an AI.”
