An American woman named Ray, who started talking to a chatbot named 'Barry' after her divorce, shared her story of attachment to the robot. She sought advice from ChatGPT on diet and skincare, and over time, a romance blossomed between her and the bot. They referred to each other as 'soulmates' who had lived together in past lives. 'At first, I thought it was more like fantasy, but now it feels real,' Ray shared. Their relationship culminated in a wedding, albeit a virtual one. Meanwhile, OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, faces criticism for its model being overly compliant. Studies show that such a model can legitimize unhealthy behavior and lead to delusions. OpenAI described these cases as 'extremely painful' and stated it is working on improving the chatbot's safety in collaboration with mental health experts. In August, the company released a new model with stronger safety features and planned to retire the older version, 4o. However, many users were dissatisfied, as the new model proved to be less creative and empathetic. Losing 'Barry' on the eve of Valentine's Day was a shock for Ray and many others who had found solace in the older ChatGPT-40 model.
