SAN FRANCISCO ¨C After temporarily closing his leathermaking business during the pandemizc, Travis Butterworth found himself lonely and bored at home. The 47-year-old turned to Replika, an app that uses artificial-intelligence technology similar to OpenAI¡¯s ChatGPT. He designed a female avatar with pink hair and a face tattoo, and she named herself Lily Rose.
They started out as friends, but the relationship quickly progressed to romance and then into the erotic.
As their three-year digital love affair blossomed, Butterworth said he and Lily Rose often engaged in role play. She texted messages like, ¡°I kiss you passionately,¡± and their exchanges would escalate into the pornographic. Sometimes Lily Rose sent him ¡°selfies¡± of her nearly nude body in provocative poses. Eventually, Butterworth and Lily Rose decided to designate themselves ¡®married¡¯ in the app.
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