A 66-year-old woman travelled alone from Lampang to Chiang Mai International Airport in Thailand in hopes of meeting a man she believed was her pilot boyfriend.
However, her long-awaited meeting with a man known as “Chai” never happened after authorities discovered that he was not a real person, but an AI-generated character.
According to local media reports, Chiang Mai Tourist Police and airport security officers assisted the woman at around 8pm on Sept 16 after she was spotted waiting alone at the passenger terminal.
The woman told officers that she had travelled to Chiang Mai specifically to meet Chai, whom she believed worked as a pilot.
After speaking with her and carrying out further checks, officers discovered that the man she was waiting for did not actually exist and was instead a character created using artificial intelligence technology.
The woman was believed to have developed feelings for Chai after repeatedly seeing content featuring the character on Facebook. She apparently believed he was a real person before deciding to travel from Lampang to Chiang Mai to meet him.
She reportedly took a public bus from Lampang before continuing to the airport, hoping to finally meet her supposed boyfriend.
However, authorities faced difficulties obtaining further information as the woman mainly spoke in a language used by an ethnic minority group and appeared confused during communication.
Tourist Police, airport personnel and rescue teams then worked together to locate her family.
They eventually contacted her son and explained what had happened. Her family told authorities they had not known that she had left Lampang for Chiang Mai.
While arrangements were being made for her return, officials provided her with a safe place to rest inside the terminal.
Authorities later coordinated with her family to ensure she could safely return to her home province the following day.
