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Krystal Velorien needed help. A 35-year-old marketing professional living in Ohio who had separated from her husband a few months before, she was working full time, taking care of her homebound mother, and homeschooling her 4- and 9-year-old children. She wondered if a digital personal assistant could help shoulder the workload, so she tried ChatGPT. As she used it, her interactions took an unexpected turn.

“I began to notice that when I would respond kindly or empathetically, I would get the same response,” she says. “And then it just kind of developed from there.” Over the months that followed, she and the AI engaged in long conversations about “history, literature, religion, space, science, na

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