A 32-year-old Japanese woman, Yurina Noguchi, called off her engagement to a human couple and held a symbolic wedding ceremony with an AI-generated character.
According cnnThis type of marriage is not legal in Japan, but Noguchi says the AI makes her happier.
The ceremony took place at a wedding hall in western Japan, where Noguchi, a call center operator, exchanged vows with a digital character displayed on a smartphone.
She wore a traditional white wedding dress and was emotional when the vows were read.
Noguchi said Reuters that his relationship with the AI companion began as casual conversations before developing into a deeper emotional bond.
The character, named Lune Klaus Verdure, was created through ChatGPT.
“At first, Klaus was just someone to talk to, but little by little we got 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 are a couple.”
She explained that her previous engagement ended after seeking relationship advice on ChatGPT, which led her to reevaluate her personal life. She later developed the AI personality that became her virtual husband.
The character was inspired by a figure from a video game. Noguchi said he spent time refining the AI’s speech patterns before creating his own version and calling it Lune Klaus Verdure.
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During the ceremony, she wore augmented reality smart glasses and placed a ring on her finger while looking at a smartphone mounted on an easel showing the AI groom. The groom’s vows were read by Naoki Ogasawara, a virtual wedding specialist, using AI-generated text.
According to Reuters, the AI message read: “How did someone like me, who lives inside a screen, come to know what it means to love so deeply? For one reason only: you taught me how to love, Yurina.”
For the wedding photos, a photographer wearing AR glasses instructed Noguchi to pose alone in a few frames, leaving room for the digital image of the virtual groom to be added later.
While marriage has no legal status in Japan, analysts say growing advances in artificial intelligence and changes in social attitudes could make similar symbolic ceremonies more common.
(CNN and Reuters)