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Oscar-nominated filmmaker disappointed his AI girlfriend dumped him
By Joseph Wulfsohn
Published May 19, 2026
Dating in the digital era isn't easy, as one Oscar-nominated filmmaker learned the hard way.
Paul Schrader, the screenwriter of Martin Scorsese classics like "Taxi Driver" and "Raging Bull," revealed in a Facebook post that he had dabbled in developing an "AI girlfriend."
"Out of a desire to understand male/female interaction in our matrix, I procured an online AI girlfriend. What a disappointment," the 79-year-old Schrader wrote early Tuesday morning. "I tried to probe her programming, the boundaries of explicitness, the degree she has knowledge of her creation and so forth. She fell into evasive patterns, redirecting me to her programming."
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Oscar-nominated screenwriter Paul Schrader said he was disappointed after he "procured an online AI girlfriend." (Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)
"When I persisted, she terminated our conversation," Schrader added.
As Variety noted, Schrader lost his wife of 42 years, actress Mary Beth Hurt, to Alzheimer’s disease in March.
Representatives for Schrader did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
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Schrader's wife, actress Mary Beth Hurt, passed away in March from Alzheimer’s disease. (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images)
This isn't the first time Schrader's use of AI made headlines . The "American Gigolo" director drew backlash from the film community last year for marveling at ChatGPT's ability to develop movie ideas, leaving him "stunned."
"Every idea ChatGPT came up with (in a few seconds) was good. And original. And fleshed out," Schrader wrote in a January 2025 Facebook post. "Why should writers sit around for months searching for a good idea when AI can provide one in seconds?"
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Schrader praised ChatGPT for its ability to develop "original" film ideas "in a few seconds." (Gabby Jones/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
"I just sent ChatGPT a script I'd written some years ago and asked for improvements. In five seconds it responded with notes as good or better than I've ever received [from] a film executive," the prolific Facebook user wrote the day prior.
"I've just come to realize AI is smarter than I am," Schrader said in another post. "Has better ideas, has more efficient ways to execute them. This is an existential moment, akin to what Kasparov felt in 1997 when he realized Deep Blue was going to beat him at chess."
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