Artificial Intelligence is increasingly shaping how people communicate and form emotional connections. Young and old prefer to share their deepest thoughts, views and ideas rather than spend on therapy or have a real conversation with friends and family.

Yurina Noguchi, a 32-year-old Japanese woman, has taken this a step further by choosing her AI-generated partner, Lune Klaus Verdure, as her soulmate.

The “wedding ceremony” was held in western Japan. Although not legally valid, the ceremony followed traditional rituals, with the digital groom displayed on a smartphone.

Noguchi wore AR smart glasses, placed a ring on her own finger, and listened as vows written for the AI partner were read aloud by a virtual wedding service professional.

Yurina Noguchi's marriage to her AI creation is part of a growing movement in Japan where devotion to fictional and virtual companions is increasing https://t.co/K5YgJcClOp pic.twitter.com/nlQSzeTP9U

— Reuters (@Reuters) December 17, 2025

Her relationship with the AI began as casual conversations that gradually became emotionally meaningful. She customised the AI’s personality based on a video game character and later accepted its proposal.

Netizens are stunned. One user commented, “This feels less like a tech story and more like a loneliness story. AI didn’t create the need , it just filled a gap society hasn’t figured out how to address yet.”

Another said, “Crying at a wedding… for a phone AI. Humanity, what happened?”

Recent surveys have revealed that more and more young people, preferably teenagers and young adults, feel safe in sharing their thoughts with an AI, as emotional attachment to fictional or virtual characters, often described as “fictoromantic” feelings.