‘You can’t use your own brain?’: California woman goes through boyfriend’s phone. Then she discovers he uses ChatGPT on her

Dating has never been easy, and it hasn't gotten easier with the advent of dating apps. But now, there's a whole new element that's been introduced to the battlefield of love: The day-to-day use of AI tools like ChatGPT.

Far from being anything close to the autonomous “artificial intelligence” imagined by science fiction, ChatGPT is a large language model (LLM). It generates batches of text using technology that's similar to the “predictive text” feature found on most modern smartphones.

ChatGPT is used for everything, from drafting emails to free pseudo-therapy. So, what happens when it's used as a relationship mediator?

The story

In a video first posted on March 14 that has more than 3,300 views, TikTok user Kat Dragon (@shitsticks3000) shared a story about her ex-boyfriend using ChatGPT to address a hiccup in their relationship.

“OK, so one time I was dating this guy, and we're together for like a year and a half, for context,” Dragon said in her video. “We'd just downloaded ChatGPT, and we start using Chat for everything.”

Dragon, who said she would regularly “go through his phone every now and again,” decided to look at his ChatGPT history.

“[ChatGPT] has like a little side bar where you can go to saved conversations between the person and their Chat,” Dragon explained. “Like questions they've asked them, conversations they've had. They're all stored on the side.”

So was surprised to learn that the LLM, which had been dubbed “Atlas” by her boyfriend, had been the one to draft an apology text from a fight the couple had two weeks prior.

“He was like, ‘What do I say? How do I fix this? How do I sound better?'” Dragon said. “And Atlas was like, ‘Do you wanna sound more apologetic? Do you wanna sound more sincere? Do you want, like, the tone softer?'”

Dragon's ex-boyfriend had apparently given Atlas his directives, and the chatbot had generated the entire apology. He then copied and pasted the apology to send it to Dragon. They made up as a result.

Dragon commended his resourcefulness, but she expressed irritation because he leaned on ChatGPT.

“You can't use your own brain?” Dragon said. “It's too hard for you to use your own brain cells to learn or to think about what you did and how you should apologize?”

Is it bad to use ChatGPT on your girl?

Obviously, Dragon's ex-boyfriend crossed an unspoken boundary when he outsourced his apology to ChatGPT. But Dragon herself cheerfully admitted to regular ChatGPT use, so what's the verdict? Is it bad to rely on ChatGPT in relationships when compared to other use cases?

While ChatGPT is undoubtedly popular, there has been an ongoing debate since its launch about the various dangers and drawbacks of regular LLM use. There has been a growing backlash against AI “slop” and against the use of LLMs in particular.

That doesn't speak to whether AI is bad for mental well-being or human relationships. It does turn out, however, that it can be detrimental. A groundbreaking study from MIT showed that regularly outsourcing critical thinking-based tasks erodes users' ability to think critically. Time magazine reports that “ChatGPT users had the lowest brain engagement and ‘consistently underperformed at neural, linguistic, and behavioral levels.'”

In addition to contributing to cognitive decline, a Harvard study also found “daily AI use is associated with depressive symptoms.” Moreover, a Vice article reports that “ChatGPT dating advice is feeding delusions and causing unnecessary breakups.”

Using AI tools and LLMs like ChatGPT can be totally non-harmful when used carefully. Being aware of the risks of AI dependence and impact can help mitigate its drawbacks, apology texts notwithstanding.

Buzz News has reached out to Dragon via TikTok comment.

@shitsticks3000 Relationship story time tea for your and me #love #dating #chatgpt #rumor #fights ♬ original sound – Kat dragon

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