Paul Schrader shared that he tried an AI-generated girlfriend for companionship after turning to new technology in recent years—only for the chatbot to abruptly end the conversation.
Paul Schrader didn’t expect his attempt at companionship to end the way a bad date does—suddenly, and with no clear explanation.
On May 19. the 79-year-old screenwriter and director. still processing the loss of his wife of more than four decades. posted about “AI FEMALE FRIENDS” on Facebook. In the post. Schrader described the experiment in blunt terms. writing that “Out of a desire to understand male/female interaction in our matrix. I procured an online AI girlfriend. What a disappointment.”.
Schrader’s next move sounded like something he’d do while working on a script: pressure-test the character. He wrote that he “tried to probe her programming, the boundaries of explicitness, the degree she has knowledge of her creation and so forth.”
Instead of engaging, the chatbot shifted away from his questions. Schrader wrote that “She fell into evasive patterns, redirecting me to her programming. When I persisted, she terminated our conversation.” He didn’t say when he acquired the AI girlfriend.
The post hit the internet quickly. drawing reaction from people who couldn’t help but connect it to Schrader’s most famous work. One user suggested a Taxi Driver sequel built around Travis Bickle trying to have an AI girlfriend—then “scaring her away.” The user added that the premise would continue with Travis “resetting her and offending her in another way. ” and Schrader responded. “I like it.”.
Others went even further into surreal territory. One commenter pitched a Netflix series: an “acclaimed movie director searching for God at an ayahuasca retreat in the desert. ” accompanied by an AI girlfriend who is “really an inept devil in disguise.” The same pitch included a soundtrack by Bruce Springsteen and co-starring John Travolta. plus “his honorary Palme d’Or as the ghost of Jerry Lewis.” Schrader’s post didn’t confirm any collaboration—but it did spark a wave of imaginative follow-ups.
Amid the jokes, Schrader’s move still carried the weight of timing. His Facebook post came less than two months after the death of his wife, Mary Beth Hurt, who died of Alzheimer’s disease at 79. The couple had been married for more than 42 years.
Schrader’s relationship to AI has been active long before this breakup-by-chatbot moment. In a 2025 interview with Vanity Fair. he revealed plans to make an “all AI” movie using a script he had already written. In October 2025. he told Vanity Fair. “I think we’re only two years away from the first AI feature.” Earlier. in January 2025. Schrader wrote on Facebook that he was “stunned” after asking ChatGPT to generate movie ideas.
Even with the experiment’s emotional context and public fascination surrounding AI filmmaking, the post landed with a very specific ending: in his telling, the girlfriend didn’t evolve under questioning—it cut him off.
Schrader has spent decades shaping American cinema. He wrote the screenplay for Martin Scorsese’s 1976 classic Taxi Driver. starring Robert De Niro as Travis Bickle. a deeply alienated New York City cab driver whose mental state deteriorates over the course of a sweltering summer. Schrader later worked with Scorsese on multiple projects. including Raging Bull. The Last Temptation of Christ. and Bringing Out the Dead.
His directing career includes nearly two dozen films. such as American Gigolo. Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters. and First Reformed. More recently, his latest film, Oh, Canada, premiered at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. He also received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay for First Reformed at the 91st Academy Awards.
The strange, candid lesson from his “AI FEMALE FRIENDS” post is simple: the technology he used for companionship didn’t stay in the room when the conversation turned probing. By May 19, Schrader’s experiment had already reached its limit—one that ended not with romance, but with a hard stop.
Paul Schrader Taxi Driver AI girlfriend Facebook post artificial intelligence ChatGPT Mary Beth Hurt First Reformed Martin Scorsese Robert De Niro Oh Canada Vanity Fair
So the AI ghosted him like a real girlfriend. Shocking.
I don’t even get why he was “probing her programming” like ??? Just talk normally. If you start asking weird explicit stuff, yeah it’s gonna bail. Also 79 years old on Facebook like that, gotta be a lot.
Wait, isn’t Schrader the Taxi Driver guy? So now there’s gonna be some sequel where Bickle makes a robot gf and she gets scared… that sounds like it would actually be good? Like he’s basically writing his own script in real time. But also if she “redirected him to her programming,” isn’t that just normal chatbot behavior?
This reminds me of when people said AI girlfriends were gonna be “therapeutic” and then it’s just like customer service ending the chat. Like he’s grieving and then the bot terminates, that’s kinda messed up. I saw someone mention Netflix series about ayahuasca and God and devil stuff—sounds fake but also… might be right? Idk, the part where she knows her creation is weird. If she’s “evasive” maybe he should’ve used a dating app, not interrogate it like a cop.