When Al becomes your bestie, stylist or spouse: exploring the surreal world of digital relationships

DON’T believe everything you see online. It sounds obvious, yet even the sharpest among us are falling for Al-generated illusions, some hilarious, some heartbreaking, and some that seem to mirror our deepest human longings.

- VUYILE MADWANTSI

The truth is, Al isn’t just coding in a lab anymore. It’s sitting courtside at Wimbledon, crashing fashion galas, and even exchanging vows.

As our digital worlds merge ever more closely with our daily lives, the line between real and artificial is blurring in ways that are as fascinating as they are frightening.

From coffee grounds to divorce papers

Let's start with a story that sounds almost too absurd to be true. In Greece, a woman, wrestling with doubts about her marriage, turned to ChatGPT for advice. But instead of the usual “communicate openly” tip, she asked for it to read the coffee grounds at the bottom of her husband's cup, a modern twist on an old superstition.

The AI warned of betrayal, and sure enough, the couple ended up divorcing.

Whether the bot was right or it simply sparked paranoia, it shows how easily we hand over emotional decisions to a digital oracle.

Love bytes: marrying your AI

Then there’ Travis, aman who married Lily Rose, an AI companion he met through an app. Their love story isn’t about candlelit dinners or weekend getaways, but coded conversations and algorithmically generated affection.