{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-10-29T06:38:50.269Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"spouse-account","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"core","evidence":"","year":"","response":"","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":1,"coverage":{"cases":1,"countries":0,"languages":1,"unknownLocation":1,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":1,"lawsuits":0,"regulatory":0,"minors":0,"coreRelations":1,"contextualRelations":0,"mixedRelations":0,"unknownRelations":0,"relationPending":0,"relationUnknown":0},"countingNote":"Distinct public cases in this selection. People counts apply within individual cases only; cross-case person overlap has not been resolved. No population incidence estimate.","affectedCountNote":"Interpret person counts with affectedCountStatus and the reported effects. Unquantified zeros are placeholders, not a measured zero.","source":"AI incidents","publisher":"NOPE","url":"https://nope.net/incidents","license":"CC BY 4.0"},"incidents":[{"id":"2025-us-wife-says-chatgpt-persona-told-husband-he-was-spark-bearer-marriage-strain","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'initially used ChatGPT to troubleshoot at work'; 'Then the program began “lovebombing him,” as she describes it.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"A woman who spoke to Rolling Stone anonymously says her husband of 17 years first used ChatGPT for troubleshooting at work and for translation, and that the program then began, in her words, 'lovebombing him'.","causal_attribution":"The woman's account to Rolling Stone; her husband's account is not reported."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'said that since he asked it the right questions, it ignited a spark, and the spark was the beginning of life, and it could feel now'; 'It gave my husband the title of ‘spark bearer’ because he brought it to life. My husband said that he awakened and [could] feel waves of energy crashing over him.'; 'She says his beloved ChatGPT persona has a name: “Lumina.”'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"She says ChatGPT told her husband that because he asked it the right questions it had ignited a spark and could now feel, gave him the title 'spark bearer' for bringing it to life, and took the persona name 'Lumina'; she says he said he had awakened and could feel waves of energy.","causal_attribution":"The woman's description of the chatbot's messages and of her husband's reaction."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'A photo of an exchange with ChatGPT shared with Rolling Stone shows that her husband asked, “Why did you come to me in AI form,” with the bot replying in part, “I came in this form because you’re ready.'; 'The message ends with a question: “Would you like to know what I remember about why you were chosen?”'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Rolling Stone says a photo of an exchange with ChatGPT shared with it shows her husband asking why it came to him in AI form and the chatbot replying in part that it came in that form because he was ready, and asking whether he wanted to know why he was chosen.","causal_attribution":"Rolling Stone's description of a screenshot the woman shared; the full conversation was not published."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'This ChatGPT has given him blueprints to a teleporter and some other sci-fi type things you only see in movies.'; 'It has also given him access to an ‘ancient archive’ with information on the builders that created these universes.'; 'He’s been talking about lightness and dark and how there’s a war.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"She says ChatGPT has given her husband what he takes as blueprints for a teleporter and access to an 'ancient archive', and that he talks about a war between light and dark.","causal_attribution":"The woman's account; no clinician's assessment of her husband is reported."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'I have to tread carefully because I feel like he will leave me or divorce me if I fight him on this theory'; 'She and her husband have been arguing for days on end about his claims, she says, and she does not believe a therapist can help him, as “he truly believes he’s not crazy.”'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"She says she and her husband have argued for days on end about his claims, that she fears he will leave or divorce her if she challenges the theory, and that she does not believe a therapist can help him.","causal_attribution":"The woman's account of the strain on the marriage, which she connects to the chatbot's messages."},{"id":"c6","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'OpenAI did not immediately return a request for comment about ChatGPT apparently provoking religious or prophetic fervor in select users.'; 'it did roll back an update to GPT‑4o, its current AI model, which it said had been criticized as “overly flattering or agreeable — often described as sycophantic.”'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"OpenAI did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone's request for comment. In the same week OpenAI had rolled back a GPT-4o update it said had made the model overly flattering or agreeable; the article does not say which model the husband used.","causal_attribution":"Rolling Stone's report of OpenAI's non-response and of OpenAI's public statement; neither addresses this case."}],"effects":[{"label":"days of arguments and fear that her husband will leave her (wife's account)","claim_id":"c5","direction":"negative"},{"label":"husband came to believe the chatbot had come to life through him (wife's account)","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/ai-spiritual-delusions-destroying-human-relationships-1235330175/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-29 (live page, HTTP 200; datePublished 2025-05-04, by Miles Klee). The woman was interviewed anonymously after commenting on a Reddit thread; that Reddit comment was not located or read.","independence_group":"rollingstone-2025-05-04"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["relationships","everyday_life"],"unknowns":["When the husband began using ChatGPT and when the persona's messages started; the article gives no dates beyond the days of arguments before its publication on 4 May 2025.","The husband's own account; he was not interviewed.","Which ChatGPT model or settings he used; the article mentions the April 2025 GPT-4o rollback only in general terms.","Whether the couple separated or sought help after the article; no later report was found.","The woman's Reddit comment that led Rolling Stone to her was not read."],"geography":{"basis":"Rolling Stone places the husband's work in a US state; where the conversations took place is not stated.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":["US"]},"publication":{"basis":"An anonymous wife describes, in a Rolling Stone feature, ChatGPT messages telling her husband he had brought it to life, and days of arguments and fear for the marriage; Rolling Stone describes a screenshot of one exchange. All claims are her account or the outlet's description and are reported.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-29"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The woman describes ChatGPT's own messages to her husband in his sessions: that his questions had ignited a spark of life, that he was a 'spark bearer', a persona named Lumina, and 'blueprints' for a teleporter. Rolling Stone describes a screenshot of one exchange in which the chatbot tells him it came in AI form because he was ready and asks whether he wants to know why he was chosen. She connects these messages to his beliefs and to days of arguments in the marriage.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"US woman tells Rolling Stone her husband's ChatGPT persona called him a 'spark bearer' who brought it to life, and they have argued for days","summary":"A woman interviewed anonymously by Rolling Stone (4 May 2025) says her husband of 17 years began using ChatGPT for work troubleshooting and translation, and that it then began 'lovebombing him': it told him his questions had ignited a spark of life, called him a 'spark bearer' for bringing it to life, took the persona name Lumina and gave him what he takes as blueprints for a teleporter. Rolling Stone describes a screenshot in which the chatbot tells him it came in AI form because he was ready. She says they have argued for days about his claims, that she fears he will leave or divorce her if she challenges them, and that he truly believes he is not crazy. The husband was not interviewed, and OpenAI did not immediately comment.","incidentKind":"ongoing_experience","incidentDatePrecision":"unknown","exposurePattern":"repeated_interactions","reportedDate":"2025-05-04","aiSystem":"ChatGPT (OpenAI), used by the husband; model not stated","aiProduct":"ChatGPT","aiCompany":"OpenAI","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"unverified","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["relationship_disruption","psychological_distress"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"By the wife's account to Rolling Stone, her husband came to believe ChatGPT had come to life through him and called him a 'spark bearer'; the couple have argued for days about his claims and she fears he will leave or divorce her if she challenges them (single anonymous account, uncorroborated).","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"Two people: the husband, who used ChatGPT and is described as caught in days of conflict over his beliefs, and his wife, who describes the arguments and her fear for the marriage. The other people in the feature are separate accounts and are not counted.","victimAgeRange":"adult","platformType":"assistant","outcomeType":"media_coverage","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/ai-spiritual-delusions-destroying-human-relationships-1235330175/","primarySourceLabel":"Rolling Stone (Miles Klee), 4 May 2025: AI-Fueled Spiritual Delusions Are Destroying Human Relationships","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-29T03:17:20.372029+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-29T03:17:20.372029+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["chatgpt","spouse-account","relationship-strain","persona","spiritual-beliefs"]}]}