It was just a matter of time.
GirlfriendGPT
Earlier this week, OpenAI quietly announced a “GPT Store” designed to allow users to share, discover, and sell their custom chatbots.
The AI company's equivalent of Apple's App Store allows developers to share their own GPT models, from coding tutors to book recommendation bots, with other paying ChatGPT Plus, Teams and Enterprise users.
At least those are the examples that OpenAI gives in its announcement.
The reality looks significantly different. As Quartz reports, the store has already been flooded with AI “girlfriend” bots. A simple search for the term returns countless examples, from “virtual sweetheart” to “your friend Scarlett.”
Instant suggestions invite the user to ask some of these virtual companions to “share your darkest secret with me” or reveal “what makes you feel valued.”
While their mere existence shouldn't come as too much of a surprise – the concept of an AI-powered mistress has been around for much longer than ChatGPT itself – they make it clear that OpenAI is already struggling to moderate the kind of bots being posted on ChatGPT Load.
Encourage romance
The bots also appear to be violating OpenAI's terms of service, as the company's user guidelines specifically prohibit GPTs “dedicated to promoting romantic companionship or engaging in regulated activities.”
This is despite AI companion apps becoming increasingly popular in recent years, sparking discussion about an epidemic of “loneliness” in the age of AI, not to mention the potentially catastrophic sociological impact of a non-human partner meeting all of one’s needs person fulfilled.
In May, programmer Enias Cailliau developed a new tool called GirlfriendGPT that aimed to “clone” a real person as an AI-powered romantic companion.
Things don't always go according to plan. Last year, Snapchat influencer Caryn Marjorie created a virtual version of herself to rent out as an “AI girlfriend.” However, it didn't take long for their “CarynAI” to go off the rails, engaging users paying $1 per minute in explicit conversations.
Whether OpenAI's brand new store will perform better remains to be seen.
The disregard for OpenAI guidelines and the proliferation of these GPTs – and we're only two days in – highlight the AI industry's difficulties when it comes to moderation. Additionally, the Sam Altman-led company already has a shaky track record of implementing guardrails.
More about AI girlfriends: Experts say AI girlfriend apps are training men to be even worse