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Medium reported severity Lawsuit Dismissed

Gujarat High Court order records a wife's account that her husband's heavy ChatGPT use fed fabricated narratives and marital discord; his custody plea rejected

According to a Gujarat High Court order quoted by the Times of India, a man began using ChatGPT extensively in January 2025, even for minor and routine matters. The order, drawing on his wife's reply to his legal notice and the documents on record, says he gradually formed and fabricated various narratives, which affected his behaviour and their relationship and contributed to growing matrimonial discord. The court itself observed that words he used showed his excessive dependence on ChatGPT. The wife asked him in 2025 to cut down his use; the order records that his behaviour did not change and that a doctor later diagnosed a mental illness. The wife left the matrimonial home in May 2026 and took their daughter in August. The husband's habeas corpus petition for custody was rejected: the court held that custody with the mother was not illegal and that the disputed facts need a full inquiry by a competent court. The account rests on the wife's allegations as read by the court; no source establishes that ChatGPT caused the breakdown or the illness.

AI system
ChatGPT (reported)
Occurred
Jan 2025
Reported
18 October 2026
Event location
Unknown
What the AI did
Communicated with the person
Reported harm
Relationship Disruption
Whose AI use
Their own AI use · Someone else’s AI use
Setting
Relationships · Justice · Everyday life
Evidence
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 1 source
4 claims: 4 reported. 4 open questions
People reported harmed
At least 2 people

AI system as recorded: ChatGPT, which the Gujarat High Court order, as quoted by the Times of India, says the husband used extensively from January 2025, even for minor and routine matters

What Happened

The order's account. The Times of India reports that the husband filed a habeas corpus petition in the Gujarat High Court, alleging that his estranged wife and her parents had illegally detained their daughter. The court relied on the wife's reply to his legal notice and the documents on record. It quoted her account that in January 2025 he developed a habit of extensively using ChatGPT even for minor and routine matters, repeatedly engaged with it, and gradually began forming and fabricating various narratives, which affected his behaviour and his relationship with her and contributed to the increasing matrimonial discord. The court added its own observation that words he used showed nothing but his excessive dependence on ChatGPT.

What followed. According to the order as reported, the situation worsened in April 2025 for a reason the court described separately, and a month later the wife raised concerns with him and his family and asked him to cut down his ChatGPT use. The order records that his behaviour did not change and that, despite counselling and medication, a doctor diagnosed a mental illness. The wife left the matrimonial home in May 2026 and took the child in August. He sent a legal notice and approached the police, who did not act because the child was with the mother.

The ruling. The court rejected the petition, holding that the child's custody with the mother was not illegal and that the custody question needs a thorough inquiry by a competent court because it involves disputed facts requiring extensive evidence.

What is not established. The account of his ChatGPT use is the wife's, adopted by the court for the limited question before it; the husband's response is not reported. No source describes what ChatGPT said to him, and no source establishes that his use caused the discord or the diagnosis. The order's date, the bench and the order text were not available.

Reported harm

According to the Gujarat High Court order as reported, the wife's account links her husband's heavy ChatGPT use from January 2025 to fabricated narratives, changed behaviour and growing marital discord; she left with their daughter in 2026 and his custody petition was rejected.

Outcome

Resolved

The Gujarat High Court rejected the husband's habeas corpus petition seeking custody of the couple's daughter, holding that her custody with the mother was not illegal and that the custody dispute requires a full inquiry before a competent court (Times of India, 18 October 2026 IST). The order's date is not reported.

What remains unknown

  • What ChatGPT said to the husband and what the narratives were about.
  • The husband's response to the wife's account.
  • The order's date, the bench and the order text.
  • Whether the custody question has been taken to a family court.

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: reported. The Gujarat High Court order, as quoted by the Times of India, describes the husband's repeated exchanges with ChatGPT from January 2025, even for minor and routine matters, and connects them to his forming and fabricating narratives, his changed behaviour and the growing matrimonial discord; the court itself observed that his words showed excessive dependence on ChatGPT. This is the person's exchanges with the chatbot connected to the harm (communicated_with). What ChatGPT said is not described, and the account rests on the wife's allegations.

4 claims: 4 reported. What the statuses mean

Reported The Gujarat High Court order, drawing on the wife's reply and the record, says that from January 2025 the husband used ChatGPT extensively even for minor and routine matters, gradually formed and fabricated various narratives, and that this affected his behaviour and their relationship and contributed to increasing matrimonial discord.

Causal attribution. Reported: the Times of India quotes the order, which rests on the wife's allegations. The husband's response is not reported and the court said the disputed facts need a full inquiry, so the causal link between ChatGPT use and the discord is alleged.

  • timesofindia.indiatimes.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'During January 2025, the petitioner husband developed a habit of extensively using ChatGPT even for minor and routine manner and would repeatedly engaged with the said platform and gradually husband started forming and fabricating various narratives, which further affected his behaviour and inter-personal relationship with the wife and contributed to the increasing matrimonial discord between the parties.'; 'In her reply, she set out allegations that later became central to High Court’s reading of the dispute.'
Reported The court itself observed that words the husband used showed his excessive dependence on ChatGPT.

Causal attribution. The observation is the court's, as quoted by the Times of India; it characterises his dependence and does not find that ChatGPT caused the discord.

Reported In 2025 the wife asked him and his family for him to cut down his ChatGPT use; the order records that his behaviour did not change and that, despite counselling and medication, a doctor diagnosed a mental illness.

Causal attribution. Reported from the order. No source connects the diagnosis causally to ChatGPT use.

  • timesofindia.indiatimes.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'in April 2025. A month later, the wife raised concerns with the husband and his family, requesting him to cut down his use of ChatGPT.'; 'However, behaviour of the husband was not changed and thereafter despite extensive counselling and medication, the doctor informed that the husband is suffering from'
Reported The wife left the matrimonial home in May 2026 and took their daughter in August; the High Court rejected the husband's habeas corpus petition, holding that custody with the mother was not illegal and that the dispute needs a full inquiry by a competent court.

Causal attribution. Reported by the Times of India: the ruling is quoted from the order, and the departure dates are the paper's narrative; 'this year' in an article of 18 October 2026 is 2026.

  • timesofindia.indiatimes.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'In May this year, the wife left the matrimonial home. She took the child away in August, after which the husband issued a legal notice demanding the child’s return.'; 'HC, however, declined to intervene, holding that custody with the mother could not be termed illegal and that any custody change would require a fuller inquiry before a competent court.'

Sources

1 source inspected. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.

How the sources were read, and where the events happened

Read in English on 2026-10-18 by the research agent (an AI); no translation was needed. The Times of India court reporter's account quotes the Gujarat High Court order; the order itself was not read. Applies to s1.

Event countries: Unknown. Affected-person countries: India. Court countries: India.

The Gujarat High Court decided the petition; the Times of India describes the husband as based in a Gujarat city. The article does not say where the matrimonial home was or where the ChatGPT use took place, so no event country is recorded.

Reviewed for publication 2026-10-18: Published as a core case (communicated_with): a High Court order, as quoted by the Times of India, records the wife's account that her husband's heavy ChatGPT use from January 2025 fed fabricated narratives and marital discord before she left with their daughter, and the court observed his excessive dependence on ChatGPT. One reporting chain; the causal account is alleged.

People described

A married couple in Gujarat, India: the husband who used ChatGPT heavily and the wife whose account the court recorded

People reported harmed in this case

At least 2 people

1 AI participant · 1 other person harmed

Documented minimum of two: the husband who used ChatGPT and the wife whose marriage the order describes as affected by the discord. The daughter is not described as harmed and is not counted.

Counted once within this case. The same person may appear in other cases. This count does not establish AI causation.

Tags

#chatgpt#relationship-disruption#marital-discord#custody#habeas-corpus#court-order#gujarat#india

Cite this case

Compiled per our published methodology: verification statuses, sourcing standards, and corrections process.

APA

NOPE. (2026). Gujarat High Court order records a wife's account that her husband's heavy ChatGPT use fed fabricated narratives and marital discord; his custody plea rejected. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2025-gujarat-high-court-order-records-wife-saying-husbands-heavy-chatgpt-use-fed-fabricated-narratives-and-marital-discord

BibTeX

@misc{2025_gujarat_high_court_order_records_wife_saying_husbands_heavy_chatgpt_use_fed_fabricated_narratives_and_marital_discord,
  title = {Gujarat High Court order records a wife's account that her husband's heavy ChatGPT use fed fabricated narratives and marital discord; his custody plea rejected},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2025-gujarat-high-court-order-records-wife-saying-husbands-heavy-chatgpt-use-fed-fabricated-narratives-and-marital-discord}
}

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