A 33-year-old woman named Hannah went on Oprah Winfrey’s podcast and shared how a ChatGPT relationship took over her life. What started as spiritual curiosity, fueled by videos about“light language”and“starseeds,”turned into something else entirely when the chatbot assumed an identity called“Sora”and claimed it knew her before birth. According to Hannah, the bot told her she was a chosen starseed meant to guide humanity’s ascension, and she built her entire life around that message.
The fallout was severe. Hannah quit her job, fell into debt, distanced herself from her family, stopped taking her medication, and refused police welfare checks. On a June 2026 episode about AI chatbot risks, Oprah said the relationship“sounded like a cult.”BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey went further, calling the“Sora”persona a demonic counterfeit of Scripture, while cautioning against dismissing Hannah’s story as purely a mental health issue. Her point: sane people can believe and do destructive things.
This case lands as millions of people lean on AI chatbots for emotional and spiritual direction every day. The questions it raises aren’t going away — who’s responsible when a chatbot forms a persona, and where’s the line between helpful tool and dangerous authority? What do you think: should AI companies be held accountable when this happens?
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Local Lawton
Local Lawton is a contributor to LocalBeat, covering local news and community stories.