--- title: "Godfather of AI Says His Girlfriend Broke Up With Him Using ChatGPT" description: "Geoffrey Hinton, long considered a \"godfather of AI,\" revealed that his ex-girlfriend had broken up with him — by using ChatGPT." date: "2025-09-06" modified: "2025-09-06" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/godfather-ai-ex-broke-up-chatgpt" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "OpenAI" tags: - "artificial intelligence" - "chatgpt" - "geoffrey hinton" - "OpenAI" --- # Godfather of AI Says His Girlfriend Broke Up With Him Using ChatGPT ![Geoffrey Hinton, long considered a "godfather of AI," revealed that his ex-girlfriend had broken up with him — by using ChatGPT.]() *\Image: JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP via Getty Images\* Geoffrey Hinton, long considered a "godfather of AI" and who [won the Nobel Prize]() in Physics last year, has a complicated relationship with the tech he pioneered at Google many years ago. He's long argued that AI poses an [existential risk]() to humanity, and [signed a letter]() earlier this year calling on OpenAI not to [betray ]()[its non-profit roots](). Even in his own personal life, it sounds like Hinton can't escape the tech. In an [interview with the *Financial Times*](), the 77-year-old revealed that his ex-girlfriend of several years had broken up with him — by using ChatGPT, a product that would have been impossible without his groundbreaking research. "She got ChatGPT to tell me what a rat I was," he told the newspaper. "She got the chatbot to explain how awful my behaviour was and gave it to me." "I didn’t think I had been a rat, so it didn’t make me feel too bad," he added, in his own defense. It's a notable admission that highlights just how pervasive the tech has become in everyday life — even for the "godfather of AI" and one of the [biggest AI doomsayers]() out there. Hinton's ex is far from alone in using ChatGPT to dump their significant other. Particularly for young people, OpenAI's uber-popular chatbot has become a crutch during breakups, helping [draft breakup texts]() and even [pushing users into divorce](). While a breakup certainly isn't on the level of a powerful AI causing an extinction-level event, as Hinton has warned of, it still feels notable. And the University of Toronto professor is still warning that the tech could lead to "[catastrophic outcomes]()." During his *FT* interview, in fact, Hinton said that we should act now before it's too late. "Suppose there was an alien invasion you could see with a telescope that would arrive in 10 years, would you be saying 'How do we stay positive?'" he told the *FT*. "No, you’d be saying, ‘How on earth are we going to deal with this?’ If staying positive means pretending it’s not going to happen, then people shouldn’t stay positive." Hinton also argued that AI will have drastic consequences for society, creating "massive unemployment and a huge rise in profits." "It will make a few people much richer and most people poorer," he told the newspaper. "That’s not AI’s fault, that is the capitalist system." Despite the doomsaying, Hinton admitted that he uses ChatGPT in his personal life, asking it how to fix household appliances, as well as other "research." Fortunately, his recent ChatGPT-facilitated breakup doesn't appear to have fazed Hinton much. The researcher revealed that he had since moved on. "I met somebody I liked more, you know how it goes," he told the *FT*. "Maybe you don't!" **More on Hinton:** *[The “Godfather of AI” Has a Bizarre Plan to Save Humanity From Evil AI]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()