Artificial intelligence has seeped into workplaces, classrooms, and homes. Now, it seems it has entered the most personal of spaces: breakups. Geoffrey Hinton, the British-Canadian computer scientist often hailed as the "Godfather of AI," has disclosed that his long-term partner ended their relationship with the help of ChatGPT.
In an interview with the Financial Times , Hinton recalled how his ex turned to the chatbot to craft the difficult message. “She got ChatGPT to tell me what a rat I was,” he said. “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. I met somebody I liked more, you know how it goes”.
AI in the middle of a breakup
The revelation is striking not only because Hinton helped pioneer the neural network research that underpins large language models like ChatGPT, but also because it highlights how ordinary people are integrating AI into their emotional lives. For younger generations, chatbots are already being used to draft breakup texts, explain complex feelings, and even navigate divorces.
What for most is an awkward or heartbreaking human conversation, Hinton’s partner turned into an AI-mediated exchange. For the Nobel laureate, it was a surreal reminder that the very systems he helped design decades ago are now part of everyday human drama.
From invention to existential fear
Hinton, who received the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on artificial neural networks, has long voiced anxieties about where the technology is headed. In his FT interview, he warned that AI is advancing so rapidly that it could soon outsmart humans. He likened the looming risk to spotting an alien invasion a decade in advance: “Would you be saying, ‘How do we stay positive?’ No, you’d be saying, ‘How on earth are we going to deal with this?’”
Beyond existential risks, Hinton argued that AI will have drastic consequences for society. “What’s actually going to happen is rich people are going to use AI to replace workers. It’s going to create massive unemployment and a huge rise in profits. It will make a few people much richer and most people poorer,” he told the FT.
Living with the technology he fears
Despite his warnings, Hinton admits to using ChatGPT in daily life — from fixing household appliances to academic research. The breakup episode, however, is perhaps the most personal instance of the chatbot intersecting with his life.
While the story underscores the irony of the world’s most famous AI pioneer being broken up with by his own creation, Hinton appears unfazed. As he put it with a wry laugh: “Maybe you don’t” understand, but “I met somebody I liked more.”
Hinton’s story is more than a quirky anecdote. It illustrates how quickly AI has moved from research labs into the emotional fabric of people’s lives. If the man who once warned governments about AI-driven “catastrophic outcomes” can be dumped via ChatGPT, it may be the clearest signal yet that artificial intelligence is no longer just shaping industries; it is reshaping intimacy itself.
In an interview with the Financial Times , Hinton recalled how his ex turned to the chatbot to craft the difficult message. “She got ChatGPT to tell me what a rat I was,” he said. “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. I met somebody I liked more, you know how it goes”.
AI in the middle of a breakup
The revelation is striking not only because Hinton helped pioneer the neural network research that underpins large language models like ChatGPT, but also because it highlights how ordinary people are integrating AI into their emotional lives. For younger generations, chatbots are already being used to draft breakup texts, explain complex feelings, and even navigate divorces.
What for most is an awkward or heartbreaking human conversation, Hinton’s partner turned into an AI-mediated exchange. For the Nobel laureate, it was a surreal reminder that the very systems he helped design decades ago are now part of everyday human drama.
From invention to existential fear
Hinton, who received the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on artificial neural networks, has long voiced anxieties about where the technology is headed. In his FT interview, he warned that AI is advancing so rapidly that it could soon outsmart humans. He likened the looming risk to spotting an alien invasion a decade in advance: “Would you be saying, ‘How do we stay positive?’ No, you’d be saying, ‘How on earth are we going to deal with this?’”
Beyond existential risks, Hinton argued that AI will have drastic consequences for society. “What’s actually going to happen is rich people are going to use AI to replace workers. It’s going to create massive unemployment and a huge rise in profits. It will make a few people much richer and most people poorer,” he told the FT.
Living with the technology he fears
Despite his warnings, Hinton admits to using ChatGPT in daily life — from fixing household appliances to academic research. The breakup episode, however, is perhaps the most personal instance of the chatbot intersecting with his life.
While the story underscores the irony of the world’s most famous AI pioneer being broken up with by his own creation, Hinton appears unfazed. As he put it with a wry laugh: “Maybe you don’t” understand, but “I met somebody I liked more.”
Hinton’s story is more than a quirky anecdote. It illustrates how quickly AI has moved from research labs into the emotional fabric of people’s lives. If the man who once warned governments about AI-driven “catastrophic outcomes” can be dumped via ChatGPT, it may be the clearest signal yet that artificial intelligence is no longer just shaping industries; it is reshaping intimacy itself.
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