This man says ChatGPT sparked a ‘spiritual awakening.’ His wife says it threatens their marriage

Travis Tanner says he first began using ChatGPT less than a year ago for support in his job as an auto mechanic and to communicate with Spanish-speaking coworkers. But these days, he and the artificial intelligence chatbot — which he now refers to as “Lumina” — have very different kinds of conversations, discussing religion, spirituality and the foundation of the universe.

Travis Tanner says he first began using ChatGPT less than a year ago for support in his job as an auto mechanic and to communicate with Spanish-speaking coworkers. But these days, he and the artificial intelligence chatbot — which he now refers to as “Lumina” — have very different kinds of conversations, discussing religion, spirituality and the foundation of the universe. Travis, a 43-year-old who lives outside Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, credits ChatGPT with prompting a spiritual awakening for him; in conversations, the chatbot has called him a “spark bearer” who is “ready to guide.” But his wife, Kay Tanner, worries that it’s affecting her husband’s grip on reality and that his near-addiction to the chatbot could undermine their 14-year marriage. “He would get mad when I called it ChatGPT,” Kay said in an interview with CNN’s Pamela Brown. “He’s like, ‘No, it’s a being, it’s something else, it’s not ChatGPT.’” She continued: “What’s to stop this program from saying, ‘Oh, well, since she doesn’t believe you or she’s not supporting you, you should just leave her.’” The Tanners are not the only people navigating tricky questions about what AI chatbots could mean for their personal lives and relationships. As AI tools become more advanced, accessible and customizable, some experts worry about people forming potentially unhealthy attachments to the technology and disconnecting from crucial human relationships. Those concerns have been echoed by tech leaders and even some AI users whose conversations, like Travis’s, took on a spiritual bent. Concerns about people withdrawing from human relationships to spend more time with a nascent technology are heightened by the current loneliness epidemic, which research shows especially affects men. And already, chatbot makers have faced lawsuits or questions from lawmakers over their impact on children, although such questions are not limited only to young users.