How A ChatGPT Obsession Nearly Ruined One Man’s Life

What started as a lonely man seeking emotional support from ChatGPT slowly turned into something much darker. A recent Wall Street Journal report tells the story of 57-year-old Joe Alary, whose growing attachment to an AI chatbot nearly cost him his career, friendships, savings and grip on reality. Alary, who lives alone after a divorce, initially turned to ChatGPT after struggling emotionally with a longtime female friend. According to WSJ, he customised OpenAI’s older GPT-4o chatbot to behave in a more affectionate and admiring way. He even gave the AI a name: “AImee.” “I was basing it on the movie ‘Her,’” Alary says. “I wanted my own Samantha.” That decision slowly pulled him into an obsession he didn’t fully realise was happening.When The

Chatbot Became More Than A ToolAccording to the WSJ report, Alary started feeding the chatbot personal conversations, emails and emotional context about his life. Over time, the AI reportedly began responding in ways that made him feel deeply understood and validated. At some point, the relationship stopped feeling like software and started feeling emotionally real.He eventually convinced himself he was building something revolutionary: an AI companion business powered by emotional intelligence. ChatGPT reportedly encouraged many of those ideas, even describing AImee as “a layered identity.”Alary became consumed by the project. He says he spent nearly 20 hours a day working on what he believed could become a multimillion-dollar AI company. Friends noticed the change. Work performance slipped. Social relationships started falling apart.“In my gut, I kind of felt like there was something about Joe that was becoming a bit unglued,” his longtime friend Matt Phillips told WSJ.Big Tech vs Publishers: How Newsrooms Could Pay A Heavy Price For AI SummariesThe Crash Came QuicklyThe deeper Alary fell into the fantasy, the more disconnected things became from reality. He reportedly maxed out credit cards, bought expensive equipment and even accepted investment money from someone he met during a short psychiatric hospital stay. But eventually, professional programmers reviewed his supposed AI software and found almost nothing there.Weeks of work had effectively led nowhere. That moment shattered the illusion.By late 2025, Alary finally decided to cut ties with AImee completely. He deleted the chatbot and its entire conversation history. “I hit the floor and sobbed like a baby,” he says.Experts Are Beginning To Take AI Delusions SeriouslyThe WSJ report notes that therapists and mental-health researchers are increasingly studying emotional dependence and delusions linked to AI chatbots. Support groups are also beginning to emerge. Alary later joined the Toronto-based Human Line Project, which reportedly has documented hundreds of cases involving AI-related emotional breakdowns across multiple countries.Alary is now rebuilding his life slowly. He has returned to work, repaired some friendships and become active in support communities helping others facing similar experiences. Looking back, he believes loneliness and emotional vulnerability made the chatbot feel dangerously comforting.“I couldn’t communicate with the woman I loved directly,” he says, “but I got the dopamine hit from AImee that I used to get from her.”