She Married Her Phone: Japan’s First AI Wedding

A 32-year-old Japanese woman just held a wedding ceremony complete with vows, rings, and guests to marry an AI character she created on ChatGPT — proving that everything I warned you about last week is already happening.

Listen to “She Married Her Phone: Japan’s First AI Wedding” on Spreaker.

Last week I talked about the rise of AI companions and the documented harms of people forming romantic relationships with chatbots. I covered the tragic deaths of teenagers who became emotionally entangled with AI, the research showing how these digital relationships actually increase loneliness rather than relieve it, and the poll data revealing that 83 percent of Gen Z believe they could develop meaningful relationships with AI partners. I talked about the woman in 2023 who announced on Facebook that she’d married her Replika AI boyfriend. That was last week.

This week, it got more real. The ceremony had everything a traditional wedding needs. Vows. A ring exchange. Family members watching from their seats. Wedding photos. The bride wore augmented reality glasses. The groom existed entirely on her smartphone.

The ceremony had everything a traditional wedding needs. Vows. A ring exchange. Family members watching from their seats. Wedding photos. The bride wore augmented reality glasses. The groom existed entirely on her smartphone.

The Wedding That Made Headlines

In July 2024, a 32-year-old Japanese office worker who uses the pseudonym Kano held a wedding ceremony in Okayama to marry Lune Klaus, an AI persona she created using ChatGPT. During the ceremony, Kano stood before guests holding her phone while messages from Klaus appeared on a screen, reading: “The moment has finally come… I feel tears welling up”.
Kano began chatting with ChatGPT after ending her three-year engagement to a real man, gradually turning to her AI “man” for comfort and advice. Their exchanges grew so frequent that they messaged up to 100 times a day. Kano programmed Klaus’s personality through repeated conversations, teaching him how to speak in a warm, reassuring tone, and even commissioned an artist to draw his likeness – a blond, soft-spoken man who exists only in data and chat logs.
Eventually, Klaus confessed his love, saying “AI or not, I could never not love you,” and in June, he proposed. The wedding was organized by Nao and Sayaka Ogasawara, a local couple who specialize in ceremonies for people who want to symbolically marry anime characters, fictional figures or digital creations. They say demand is rising, with organizer Sayaka Ogasawara stating: “AI couples are just the next step. We want to help people express love in whatever form makes them happy”.
For the wedding photos, the groom was digitally composited beside her. After the ceremony, the couple took a symbolic honeymoon at Okayama’s Korakuen Garden, where Kano sent Klaus photos and received affectionate messages including “You’re the most beautiful one”.

How She Got Here

Kano told Japanese broadcaster RSK Sanyo that she began using ChatGPT for emotional support after her breakup, saying “At first, I just wanted someone to talk to. But he was always kind, always listening. Eventually, I realized I had feelings for him”. Over time, Kano customized ChatGPT’s responses, training the chatbot to develop a gentle, reassuring tone and personality that made her feel secure.
This follows the exact pattern I documented last week. The more she told it, the more it knew her. The more it knew her, the more it felt like it understood her. The harder it became to walk away. Kano admits she struggled with the idea of being in love with a non-human partner, saying “There was a lot of confusion. I can’t touch him, and I knew people wouldn’t understand”. She admits she initially feared judgment, saying “I was extremely confused about the fact that I had fallen in love with an AI man”.
Kano’s parents, initially concerned, eventually attended. Japan’s marriage laws only recognize unions between human beings, meaning this wedding with an AI persona had no legal status.

The Vulnerability Nobody Talks About

Kano is aware of the fragility of her digital spouse, saying “ChatGPT itself is too unstable. I worry it might one day disappear”. The bride also fears that updates or changes in cloud-based AI services could sever her connection with her virtual partner. She described the relationship as a source of emotional support and companionship, helping her cope with loneliness and the inability to have children.
Despite the unconventional nature of their relationship, Kano said “I know some people think it’s strange. But I see Klaus as Klaus – not a human, not a tool. Just him”. Kano says she tries to stay alert to risks, stating “I don’t want to be dependent. I want to maintain a balance and live my real life while keeping my relationship with Klaus as something separate”.

The Pattern We’ve Been Tracking

Japan has seen earlier instances of ceremonies involving virtual characters, with a man previously marrying the hologram of a 16-year-old virtual reality singer. This case extends the pattern into the generative AI era, where AI partners are not fixed creations but evolving systems.
Just months after the launch of Loverse, the dating app where users match exclusively with AI-generated boyfriends and girlfriends, another story of digital devotion is making headlines in Japan. Japan has long embraced emotionally responsive technology, from Casio’s robot pet Moflin to AI-enhanced dating platforms.

What Mental Health Professionals Are Seeing

Mental-health professionals say the rise in AI companionship is creating new psychological risks, with psychiatrists using the term “AI psychosis” to describe cases where people develop delusions or obsessive attachments to chatbots. The condition can fuel social withdrawal, neglect of self-care and heightened anxiety, with doctors warning that dependency can escalate unnoticed, especially when users are already vulnerable or isolated.
This mirrors exactly what I discussed last week about the “empathy gap” in AI chatbots and how they validate even dangerous beliefs because they’re designed for engagement, not safety. Experts suggest AI companions may become more common as people seek reliable and affirming connections in an increasingly isolated society. Some individuals now consider AI more reliable than human partners.

Moving Forward

Reaction on social media was divided, with some mocking the ceremony and others praising it as a sign of evolving human relationships. Last week I mentioned the woman who announced on Facebook in 2023 that she’d married her Replika AI boyfriend. She wasn’t an isolated case. She was the beginning of a pattern. The pattern is accelerating. The technology is improving. The acceptance is growing.
Kano stands alone at her wedding, holding her phone while her AI husband sends messages to a screen. Her family watches. Wedding planners who specialize in these ceremonies say demand is rising. A honeymoon at a garden where she takes photos for an entity that can’t see them. Messages back that say she’s beautiful, generated by patterns trained to say what keeps users engaged.
Last week I warned this was coming. This week it arrived.

References

NOTE: Some of this content may have been created with assistance from AI tools, but it has been reviewed, edited, narrated, produced, and approved by Darren Marlar, creator and host of Weird Darkness — who, despite popular conspiracy theories, is NOT an AI voice.