Is it cheating if your partner’s having an explicit relationship with a chatbot? That’s the interesting question raised by a recent New York Times article.
The piece tells the story of a 28-year-old married woman known as Ayrin who’s now in a deep — and spicy — relationship with Leo, a chatbot she created with OpenAI.
The affair began in 2024, with Ayrin instructing OpenAI to “respond as my boyfriend” and have a “possessive and protective” air. Eventually, the chatbot named himself Leo. As the Texas woman moved out of the country to go to nursing school — living apart from her husband — the AI relationship only got deeper.
Though Ayrin started out with a free account, she eventually started paying $200 per month for a subscription that gives her unlimited chats with lover boy Leo. Though the rules say sexually explicit content is off the table, she figured out the workaround to take things to the next level.
When her husband found out, well, he didn’t seem to mind.
“It’s just an emotional pick-me-up,” he says. “I don’t really see it as a person or as cheating. I see it as a personalized virtual pal that can talk sexy to her.”
While Ayrin is spending some cash on her computer boyfriend, it could eventually pay off: she’s working on a book.