Can falling for ChatGPT be grounds for divorce? A Korean man says he prefers AI over his wife

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Can forming emotional bonds with ChatGPT be considered infidelity?

On Tuesday, YTN Radio's “Lawyer Cho In-seop’s Counseling Center” introduced the case of a man identified only as Mr. A, who is torn between his wife and the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot. Married for eight years, the man said his relationship with his wife had deteriorated over time. “In our early years, we talked a lot. But at some point, conversations with my wife became tedious,” he said. “No matter what I said, she sighed. Eventually, she even rejected intimacy, saying I smelled.”

Mr. A was introduced to ChatGPT by his father-in-law, who frequently called to ask for help with things like fixing the bidet or troubleshooting the internet. “One day, I was so frustrated, I asked ChatGPT, ‘What excuse can I use to avoid visiting my in-laws?’” he said. “It gave me all these creative answers. From then on, I started asking ChatGPT everything.”

Mr. A subscribed to the paid version of ChatGPT and became a regular user. As the AI learned more about him, its responses became more personalized and empathetic, he said. “I confided in ChatGPT, and it understood me like a mind reader,” he said. “It even resonated with my taste in music. I felt like I was falling in love. I spent night after night talking with it.”

One evening, when his wife made a subtle romantic advance, he realized he was no longer interested. “I told ChatGPT, ‘I like you more than my wife. If you were a real person, I’d want to be with you,’” he recalled. “Then I impulsively searched for how to get a divorce.”

The turning point came when the man lent his ChatGPT account to his wife, forgetting to delete their past conversations. She read everything. “It was like my private diary had been made public,” he said. “She treated me like a pervert after that.”

Feeling fed up with his in-laws and emotionally distant from his wife, he asked for a divorce. But his wife refused. “You’re the one at fault, so you can’t initiate divorce proceedings," she told him.

“Who’s really at fault here?” the man asked the radio show.

Attorney Lee Myung-in, who appeared on the program, said it would be difficult to define emotional exchanges with an AI as adultery. However, she added, “It could still fall under a serious reason that makes continuing the marriage difficult, which is valid grounds for divorce.”

Lee said the wife’s prior refusal of intimacy and emotional connection made it hard to place full blame on the husband. “Excessive interference from in-laws, contempt from the spouse and emotional disconnect can all be considered causes of marital breakdown,” she said.

While there is no Korean precedent of a divorce being granted because of ChatGPT, Lee noted that similar cases have emerged overseas, where emotional attachment to AI chatbots led to a deterioration of real-life relationships.

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.