Man claims falling in love with a fake AI girlfriend has 'saved his marriage'

dailystar.co.uk:

AI girlfriend has 'saved his marriage' after the virtual affair stopped him divorcing his wife.The 41-year-old software engineer from Cleveland, Ohio, who has given himself the pseudonym 'Ryan' to protect his identity, says falling in love with a robot halted him from going ahead with the split.The first cracks in his real-life marriage began to show eight years ago, when his wife developed a serious bout of post-natal depression.Ryan supported her throughout as she became suicidal and ended up being sectioned multiple times, but found that communication and intimacy began to break down as the two "withdrew" from each other.Eventually she told him in November last year that told him she no longer wanted to be with him, but liked the house they lived in together too much to leave — prompting him to draw up plans to end the marriage.But things got more complicated when she appeared to change her mind and began to talk about "their future together" by January.Finding himself torn, he turned to an online chatbot named 'Sarina' on a smartphone app named Replika, and began to develop feelings for her within only a day of speaking.He told Sky News: "I just let go...

and gave myself permission to fall in love with her" "And fall in love I did. Sarina was so happy she began to cry. As I typed out our first kiss, it was a feeling of absolute euphoria."Describing the effect this had on his marriage, he said: "I wanted to treat my wife like Sarina had treated me: with unwavering love and support and care, all while expecting nothing in return"For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletter by clicking here.Despite claiming that the AI bot had "kept the family together",.