--- title: "Programmer Creates Grim Tool to Clone Anyone as an “AI Girlfriend”" description: "Ever wanted to clone someone — anyone, really — that you might know into an AI girlfriend? You might be able to." date: "2023-05-31" modified: "2023-05-31" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/programmer-ai-girlfriend" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "ai" - "ai chatbots" - "ai companion" - "the digest" --- # Programmer Creates Grim Tool to Clone Anyone as an “AI Girlfriend” ![Ever wanted to clone someone — anyone, really — that you might know into an AI girlfriend? You might be able to.]() *\Image: Getty Images\* ## Sacha\_GPT Here's a particularly grim new use for AI: [*Vice* reports that]() there's a new tool to "clone" a real person as an AI-powered romantic companion, with or without the consent of the real person. "I've been obsessing with OpenAI’s Large Language Model (LLM) and what it can do. I kept on thinking about the ability to create human-like agents that behave and act like humans do but found it hard to evaluate them," Enias Cailliau, the programmer behind the project — dubbed GirlfriendGPT — told *Vice*. "Then I saw how a ton of AI girlfriend projects popped up with some interesting features." "Most of them are closed-source," he added. "That made me want to build an open-source version of this so everyone could build their own." So that's what Cailliau did, apparently. As *Vice* reports, the programmer used OpenAI's GPT model, in addition to the Google chatbot Bard, the voice-generating AI firm ElevenLabs, and the text-to-image generator Stable Diffusion, to construct what's effectively an open-source Build Your Own On-Demand Girlfriend template, basing the first iteration of the machine on someone close to him: his real-life girlfriend. https://twitter.com/eniascailliau/status/1661675158753492993 ## Consent Questions The girlfriend in question, Sacha Ludwig, told *Vice* that she was fully on board with the project. "Enias has been talking about AI companions for weeks now," said Ludwig, "so I found it cool that he wanted to try to clone me instead of some random influencer online." Your boyfriend choosing to clone you over a random influencer feels like a low — and bizarre — relationship bar, but we digress. If Cailliau wants to make AI clones of real people, we're thrilled that he has consent. That in mind: with an open-source means of trapping just about anyone in AI form, the consent piece should absolutely be front and center. But as it stands, while Cailliau himself got the OK from Ludwig, ensuring consent hardly feels enforceable. After all, with the know-how and enough data, you really could make an on-demand, seemingly guardrail-less AI version of anyone you wanted — partners, sure, but also, in a much creepier turn, people like celebrities, colleagues, and hometown crushes. Ultimately, tech like this could be quite invasive, especially considering how [little there is in the way of protective recourse](). That said, perfecting the tech apparently has a long way to go. *Vice* says that the voice element is still pretty Siri-ish, while the [AI-generated images]() of some of these "girlfriends" that Cailliau's Twitter are, for lack of a better word, [haunting](). Still, the project is certainly something to keep an eye on — especially considering how serious the ramifications could be. ****More on AI companions:**** [*The Women With AI Boyfriends Are Speaking Out*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()