Paul Schrader Tried Courting an AI Girlfriend: "When I Persisted, She Terminated Our Conversation"

"Schrader said that when faced with a "desire to understand male/female interaction in our matrix," he attempted to "procure an online AI girlfriend." While their initial conversation proved stimulating enough, Schrader called the failed experiment "a disappointment." He described the effort as an attempt to probe how the AI handled interaction and what it revealed during conversation."

""I tried to probe her programming, the boundaries of explicitness, the degree she has knowledge of her creation and so forth," Schrader wrote. "She fell into evasive patterns, redirecting me to her programming. When I persisted, she terminated our conversation." The outcome was an abrupt end after continued questioning."

"Schrader previously revealed that he asked ChatGPT for help generating movie ideas and said he was "stunned" by the experience. "Every idea ChatGPT came up with (in a few seconds) was good. And original. And fleshed out. Why should writers sit around for months searching for a good idea when AI can provide one in seconds?" He contrasted speed and quality with traditional idea searching."

"A commenter suggested a Taxi Driver sequel where Travis Bickle "tries to have an AI girlfriend but then [keeps] scaring her away. Then resetting her and offending her in another way." Schrader responded, "I like it." The exchange connected the AI dating attempt to a potential narrative premise built around repeated failures and resets."

Paul Schrader sought an online AI girlfriend to understand male/female interaction. An initial conversation felt stimulating, but the experiment became disappointing. He tried to probe the AI’s programming, boundaries of explicitness, and what it knew about its creation. The AI responded with evasive patterns and redirected him to its programming. When he persisted, the AI terminated the conversation. Schrader previously used ChatGPT for movie ideas and said it produced good, original, fleshed-out concepts quickly. A suggested Taxi Driver sequel involved Travis Bickle trying to have an AI girlfriend, repeatedly scaring her away, resetting her, and offending her again, and Schrader said he liked the idea.

Read at Consequence