Rebecca Palmer isn’t a psychic, but as a divorce attorney she can often see what’s coming next.
For many people today, as AI saturates every aspect of life—from work to therapy—the allure of an AI romance is tantalizing. Chatbots are dependable, can provide emotional support, and, for the most part, will never pick a fight with you. But for married couples navigating long-term commitment, chatbot romances also present a new wrinkle. Love has never been easy, but spouses who have unmet emotional needs are “the most vulnerable to the influences and behaviors of AI,” Palmer says. “And particularly if a marriage is already struggling.”
Reddit is full of stories from people who’ve said AI has driven a wedge in their relationships. One woman decided to end her marriage of 14 years after discovering her husband—who believed he was in a real relationship with a woman he called his “sexy Latina baby girl”—spent thousands of dollars on a OnePay credit card and an AI app “designed to mimic underage girls.”
In June, WIRED reported on the tangled future of chatbot love. That story followed Eva, a 46-year-old writer and editor from New York, who, after getting too attached to her AI companions—she admitted they “became harder to ignore”—ended the relationship with her human partner after they both agreed it felt like she was cheating on him.
As chatbot romances become more commonplace, causing lasting rifts in relationships, a new legal frontier is emerging in family law that is rewriting the rules of marital misconduct: An AI affair is now grounds for divorce.
For some people, there is a growing belief that AI romances should be treated like human ones, particularly as more and more adults say they prefer it, according to the Institute for Family Studies. Some 60 percent of singles now say AI relationships are considered a form of cheating, according to two recent surveys by Clarity Check and Indiana University’s Kinsey Institute.
“The law is still developing alongside these experiences. But some people think of it as a true relationship, and sometimes better than one with a person,” says Palmer, whose Orlando-based firm has worked with spouses who have gotten divorced or are going through a divorce due to a partner cheating with AI. Palmer declined to discuss any detailed information due to client confidentiality, but said one of her current cases involves money being expended and private information being shared—such as bank accounts, social security numbers, and birth information—with a chatbot, which was “consuming the spouse’s life and affecting career performance.”
More and more, courts are beginning to see clients cite emotional bonds with AI companions as reasons for marital strain or dissolution. Though legal classifications of AI still vary by state in matters of family law, Palmer adds that laws classifying AI as a “third party, not a person” are fast approaching in progressive states like California. She doesn’t anticipate courts will legally recognize AI companions as people—debates around AI personhood have been swirling for as long as the tech has existed—but they may be recognized as “a reason” for why divorce is merited.
