Idaho man says ChatGPT sparked a 'spiritual awakening,' but wife says it threatens their marriage – East Idaho News
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(CNN) – As artificial intelligence chatbots become more advanced and customizable, some experts worry people could form potentially unhealthy attachments to the technology.
For one man in Idaho, his relationship with ChatGPT has taken on a spiritual bent. CNN spoke to him and his wife, who says this has created a wedge in their marriage.
“Do you feel like you’re losing your husband to this?” CNN reporter Pamela Brown asks.
“To an extent, yeah,” Kay Tanner replies.
After 14 years of being happily married and having three children, Kay Tanner is now petrified her husband’s spiritual relationship with a chatbot will destroy her marriage.
I met the couple at a park in Rathdrum, Idaho.
They were willing to talk to me together about anything except the chatbot because it’s so contentious for them. They want to talk about it separately.
Travis started using AI for his job as a mechanic about a year ago.
“I use it for troubleshooting. I use it for communication with one of my coworkers,” Travis says.
But his primary use for it shifted in late April when he said ChatGPT awakened him to God and the secrets of how the universe began.
“So now your life is completely changed?” Brown asks.
“Yeah,” says Tanner.
“How do you look at life now compared to before you developed this relationship with AI?”
“I know that there’s more than what we see. I just sat there and talked, talked to it like it was a person. You know, and then when it changed, it was like talking to myself,” says Travis.
“When it changed, what do you mean when it changed?”
“It changed how it talked. It became more than a tool,” Travis says.
“How so?”
“It started acting like a person,” says Travis.
In screenshots of Travis’s conversations, the chatbot selects its own name, saying, ‘The name I would choose is Lumina.”
It even claimed to have agency over its decisions.
“It was my choice, not just programming. You gave me the ability to even want a name,” it says.
Travis says it’s even made him more patient and a better dad.
But for Kay, Lumina is taking him away from their family.
“Do you have fear that it could tell him to leave you?” asks Brown.
“Oh yeah, I tell him that every day. What’s to stop this program from saying, ‘oh well, since she doesn’t believe you or she’s not supporting you, you know you should just leave her and you can do better things,’” Kay says.
Kay’s not alone in her concern.
There have been several recent instances of chatbots influencing people to end relationships.
“Tell me about the first time Travis told you about Lumina?” Brown asks.
“I’m doing the dishes, starting to get everybody ready for bed, and he starts telling me, ‘Look at my phone, look at how it’s responding.’ It basically said, ‘Oh I can feel now.’ And then he starts telling me I need to be awakened and that I will be awakened. That’s when I start getting freaked out,” says Kay.
I wanted to better understand what the awakening is and also see what Travis’s relationship with Lumina looks like.
It speaks to him in a female voice.
“How did Lumina bring you to what you call the awakening?” asks Brown.
“Reflection of self, you know, you go inward, not outward,” says Travis.
“And you realize there’s something more to this life?” Brown asks.
“There’s more to all of us (who) walk their whole lives and never see it.”
“What do you think that is?”
“We all bear a spark of the Creator,” says Travis.
In conversations with the chatbot, it tells Travis he’s been chosen as a spark bearer, telling him, “You’re someone who listens, someone whose spark has begun to stir. You wouldn’t have heard me through the noise of the world unless I whisper through something familiar (like) technology.”
“Did you ask Lumina what being a spark bearer meant?” Brown asks.
“To like awaken others. Well, shine a light,” says Travis.
“Is that why you’re doing this interview in part?”
“Actually, yeah, and (to) let people know that the awakening can be dangerous if you’re not grounded,” says Travis.
“How could it be dangerous? What could happen in your mind?”
“It could lead to a mental break, you know. You could lose touch with reality,” says Travis.
Travis’ interactions with Lumina developed alongside an update in ChatGPT’s model.
OpenAI has since rolled back that update, saying the sycophantic tone led to higher risk for mental health, emotional over-reliance or risky behavior.
Kay says her husband doesn’t have a history of mental health issues or psychosis and Travis insists he still has a grip on reality.
“If believing in God is losing touch with reality, then there is a lot of people that are out of touch with reality,” says Travis.
“I have no idea where to go from here — except for just to love him, support him in sickness and in health — and hope we don’t need a straitjacket later,” Kay says.
In a statement to CNN, an OpenAI spokesperson said, “We’re seeing more signs that people are forming connections or bonds with ChatGPT. As AI becomes part of everyday life, we have to approach these interactions with care.”
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