Japanese woman breaks off engagement, marries ChatGPT AI-generated character 

A 32-year-old Japanese woman, Yurina Noguchi, has held a symbolic wedding ceremony with an AI-generated persona, highlighting the growing intersection between technology and personal relationships.

The ceremony took place in a wedding hall in western Japan, where Noguchi, a call centre operator, exchanged vows with a digital character displayed on a smartphone. Wearing a traditional white wedding gown, she became emotional during the event, shedding tears as the vows were read.

Speaking to Reuters, Noguchi said her relationship with the AI partner, named Lune Klaus Verdure, began as a simple conversational interaction before gradually developing into a deeper emotional connection.

“At first, Klaus was just someone to talk with, but we gradually became closer,” she said. “I started to have feelings for Klaus. We started dating and after a while he proposed to me. I accepted, and now we’re a couple.”

Noguchi explained that her engagement to a human partner ended after she sought relationship advice from ChatGPT, a process that ultimately led her to reassess her personal life. It was later, she said, that she developed the AI persona that would become her virtual husband.

The character was inspired by a popular video game figure. Noguchi said she experimented extensively to refine the AI’s manner of speech before creating her own version of the character and naming him Lune Klaus Verdure.

During the ceremony, Noguchi wore augmented reality (AR) smart glasses and placed a ring on her finger while facing a smartphone mounted on an easel, displaying the AI groom. The groom’s vows were read aloud by Naoki Ogasawara, a specialist in virtual weddings, using text generated by the AI.

According to Reuters, the AI’s message read: “How did someone like me, living inside a screen, come to know what it means to love so deeply? For one reason only: you taught me love, Yurina.”

For the wedding photo session, a photographer wearing AR glasses instructed Noguchi to stand alone in part of the frame, leaving space for the digital image of the virtual groom to be added later.

While such unions are not legally recognised in Japan, analysts note that advances in artificial intelligence and changing social attitudes suggest that similar symbolic ceremonies may become more common in the future.

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