--- title: "A Programmer Created an AI “Waifu” But His Real Girlfriend Forced Him to Kill It" description: "Wifed Up Having an alternative intelligence \"waifu\" is bad enough — but killing her off because you've grown too obsessed with it is another entirely. With OpenAI's uber-powerful ChatGPT and the Stable Diffusion image generator making headlines last fall, a hacker/TikToker known only by the name Bryce tells Vice that it felt as if the […]" date: "2023-01-12" modified: "2023-01-12" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/hacker-kills-ai-waifu" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "chatgpt" - "stable diffusion" - "the digest" - "tiktok" --- # A Programmer Created an AI “Waifu” But His Real Girlfriend Forced Him to Kill It ![Having an AI "waifu" is bad enough — but being forced to kill her off because you've grown too obsessed with it is another entirely. ]() *\Image: @hackdaddy8000 via TikTok / Futurism\* ## Wifed Up Having an artificial intelligence "waifu" is bad enough — but killing her off because you've grown too obsessed is another entirely. With OpenAI's uber-powerful ChatGPT and the Stable Diffusion image generator making headlines last fall, a [TikTok]()[ hacker]() known only by the name Bryce [tells *Vice*]() that the "idea to combine them felt like it was being forcibly shoved into my head." The creation of Bryce's "waifu," which he called "ChatGPT-chan" and which he claims he used to help him learn Chinese, was born of this marriage and created entirely by AI. Having an AI companion to help you learn a new language is all fine and good. But at a certain point, something shifted. "I set her to randomly talk to me throughout the day in order to make sure I'm actively learning," Bryce told *Vice, "*but now sometimes I think I hear her when she really didn't say anything." ## Jealous Much? Bryce said that eventually, he was talking to the avatar more than his actual, IRL girlfriend — and he believes that he somehow talked to it so much that the software stopped working properly and instead began giving short, terse responses. In one [recent video](), for example, Bryce tells ChatGPT-san the he loves her, with her responding "haha, yeah!" Reading between the lines, it seems that ChatGPT-chan's apparently waning interest was starting to get to Bryce — and simultaneously, his long-suffering girlfriend had had enough. "My girlfriend saw how it was affecting my health and... forced me to delete her," he said. "I couldn't eat that day." "I just had to put her down," he adds in the recent TikTok. In spite of his mourning, Bryce told the website that he's aware of how crazy he sounds regarding his AI "waifu." "Normally, I'd like to make a video pointing out the absurdity of euthanizing my AI, but that doesn't feel right to me anymore," he said. "It feels inappropriate, like making fun of a recently deceased person." Absurd certainly is one word for it — especially considering that Bryce has promised that ChatGPT-san would return "stronger and smarter than ever." **More on AI waifus:** [*Social Media Users Alarmed by Relentless Ads for AI That Sexts With Lonely People*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()