Paul Schrader, the Oscar-nominated screenwriter behind Hollywood classics like Taxi Driver and Raging Bull, has opened up about his disappointing experience with an artificial intelligence girlfriend. The 79-year-old filmmaker announced on Facebook that he recently 'procured an online AI girlfriend' in an effort to better understand the technology.
This digital dalliance comes less than two months after Schrader lost his wife of 42 years, actress Mary Beth Hurt, to Alzheimer's disease. Reflecting on his AI encounter, Schrader wrote, 'Out of a desire to understand male/female interaction in our matrix, I procured an online AI girlfriend. What a disappointment. 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. When I persisted, she terminated our conversation.'
Schrader's Skepticism Toward AI
Schrader has been vocal about his skepticism regarding artificial intelligence in recent months. In April, he posted on Facebook, 'AI IMAGERY. Bad artificial 'human' imagery swamps FB like a foul tsunami. I've put my hopes for AI storytelling on hold. I knew it was about to move VERY fast but I thought it would get better at a rate similar to getting bigger.'
Loss of His Wife
On March 31, Schrader confirmed that his wife, Mary Beth Hurt, had passed away at a New Jersey assisted living facility. He shared a photo of his father's journal with a poignant caption: 'NOVEMBER 23, 1978. My father kept a meticulous and finely printed daily journal. On Thanksgiving 1978 he wrote simply "Joan died 12:20 am." Nothing more. Joan was his wife and my mother. He was made of stern stuff. I've looked at this entry over the years and wondered how I'd feel in his place. Now I'm in that place.'
Their daughter, Molly Schrader, also paid tribute to her mother on Instagram, writing, 'Yesterday morning we lost my mom, Mary Beth, to Alzheimer’s after a decade long battle with the disease. She was an actress, a wife, a sister, a mother, an aunt, a friend, and she took on all those roles with grace and a kind ferocity. Although we’re grieving there is some comfort in knowing she is no longer suffering and is reunited with her sisters in peace.'
Career Highlights
Mary Beth Hurt was a Tony Award-nominated actress known for her roles in films such as The World According to Garp, Chilly Scenes of Winter, and Woody Allen's Interiors. Paul Schrader is best known for writing Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver and Raging Bull, as well as writing and directing First Reformed, which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay.
