AI Fortune Teller Sparks Real Divorce Drama

I have been closely following ChatGPT since the AI chatbot gained widespread attention in late 2022. I began using it soon after and quickly became a ChatGPT Plus subscriber. Throughout this time, I have been reporting on its developments, explaining new features, and suggesting ways to use them for personal or work efficiency.

The Perils of AI Hallucinations

From the very beginning, I emphasized that you cannot trust everything an AI says. It is crucial to always ask for proof and check sources. It's not just ChatGPT that experiences "hallucinations," meaning it fabricates information; other AI models do this as well. Furthermore, recent research from OpenAI reveals that its most advanced ChatGPT models tend to hallucinate even more than previous versions. This underscores the critical need to verify any information the AI provides.

I am repeating this warning because I recently encountered what might be the most foolish use of ChatGPT AI yet, which only reinforces my point: You must understand what generative AI products like ChatGPT can do for you and then confirm the factual correctness of their output before relying on them.

ChatGPT Turns Coffee Reader A Bizarre Divorce Story

So, what is this incredibly unwise application of ChatGPT? A woman in Greece reportedly used ChatGPT to perform coffee grounds reading using pictures of coffee cups. The AI informed her that her husband was either going to have an affair or was already having one. Convinced by ChatGPT's assertion, the woman filed for divorce.

This couple had been married for 12 years and had two children, per GreekCityTimes, when she asked the AI to interpret the coffee grounds in photos of her and her husband’s cups.

ChatGPT examined the image of her husband's coffee cup and told her that a mysterious woman with the initial “E” was the object of her husband’s fantasies and that he was destined to have a relationship with her. The AI also analyzed the wife’s cup, offering an even darker interpretation: her husband was already involved in an affair with a woman who aimed to destroy their home.

From Trendy Tech to Marital Turmoil

“She’s often into trendy things,” the man explained to the Greek morning show To Proino. “One day, she made us Greek coffee and thought it would be fun to take pictures of the cups and have ChatGPT ‘read’ them.”

“I laughed it off as nonsense,” he added. “But she took it seriously. She asked me to leave, told our kids we were getting divorced, and then I got a call from a lawyer. That’s when I realized this wasn’t just a phase.”

He refused to agree to a mutual separation, leading the woman to serve him divorce papers just three days later.

Apparently, the woman has an interest in the supernatural. Long before using AI for coffee reading, she had consulted an astrologer. Her husband mentioned it took her a year to accept that the astrologer's predictions were not real.

AI Divination Versus Human Skepticism

Assuming for a moment that one believes in coffee, palm, or card readings, I would still caution anyone that AI cannot objectively perform such tasks. It lacks the supposed skills of gifted humans who claim expertise in these areas. As the report notes, even traditional coffee readers have stated this. The practice involves more than just looking at grounds in a cup; one must also analyze the foam and the coffee saucer.

However, I personally do not believe in any of these divination methods, let alone an AI like ChatGPT attempting to make sense of them.

This is, again, the silliest application of ChatGPT I have come across, but we are likely only beginning to see such bizarre uses by real people. Ironically, it also sounds like the kind of story ChatGPT itself might invent.

The Unverified Word of AI and Its Real World Consequences

Either the woman was already looking for a reason to divorce and lacked legitimate grounds (pun intended), or she genuinely needs to learn about ChatGPT's capabilities, which prominently includes the necessity of verifying its claims. In this scenario, hiring a private detective instead of a divorce lawyer might have been more helpful.

I am somewhat curious about how this story will end. I am not definitively saying the man didn’t cheat or plan to with this “E” woman. And imagine how wild it would be if he actually did? I would certainly watch a Netflix TV show based on this incredible ChatGPT story.

Legal Standings and Lingering Questions

The man’s lawyer stated that claims made by an AI chatbot have no legal standing in court, a point that hardly seems to need stating, especially in this case. Nevertheless, the lawyer affirmed that the man is “innocent until proven otherwise.”

Imagine the scene: the woman’s lawyer trying to argue in court that an AI looked at coffee grounds in two cups and concluded the husband was about to start an affair or was already involved in one. I would definitely want to watch that live.