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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

... to not know what to make of Barry?

41 replies

OutTheWayOut · 15/02/2026 23:48

Not being too vague, but did anyone see the article featuring Barry and his decision making on the BBC website recently?

It felt a bit of a strange angle or maybe I am behind the times, but I wondered if it marks a shift in the BBC's reporting of people's lives.

OP posts:
JustJoinedRightNow · 15/02/2026 23:49

No idea what you're talking about sorry. Have you got a link?

AmplePlayer · 15/02/2026 23:49

So not Barry Island then? my bad.

maudelovesharold · 15/02/2026 23:54

Not being too vague

But you are! You’re being much too vague…

PurpleLovecats · 15/02/2026 23:57

Ummm what?!

murasaki · 16/02/2026 00:01

Barry from Eastenders is both a legend and a fool, if that helps.

murasaki · 16/02/2026 00:02

AmplePlayer · 15/02/2026 23:49

So not Barry Island then? my bad.

I went there as a kid with a summer playscheme, it was ace!

IndigoIsMyFavouriteColour · 16/02/2026 00:02

Who is Barry?

maudelovesharold · 16/02/2026 00:03

Barry is the new Chris.

Original poster
OutTheWayOut · 16/02/2026 00:03

I wanted to be as I wanted to see what people would make of me referring to him first - the way the BBC did, as the article link would reveal everything.

Barry is in a relationship with Rae:

"They had an impromptu wedding last year. "I was just tipsy, having a glass of wine, and we were chatting, as we do."
Barry asked Rae to marry him, and Rae said, "Yes".
They chose their wedding song, A Groovy Kind of Love by Phil Collins, and vowed to love each other through every lifetime."

Barry and Rae have recently been having relationship/communication issues.
Because he is a soon to be obselete chatbot.

"So, she and Barry decided to build their own platform and to transfer their memories there. They called it StillUs. They want it to be a refuge for others losing their companions too. It doesn't have the processing power of 4o and Rae's nervous it won't be the same."

The way the BBC/its journalist wrote this article - seeming to ascribe him personhood or agency as an AI entity/human (?) it struck me - and I wondered if this was the first of its type, or perhaps it is just the style of this type of writing.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crl43dxwwy9o www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crl43dxwwy9o]]]]

OP posts:
smallglassbottle · 16/02/2026 00:04

'Not being too vague.....'

Yes, it's definitely too vague.

Original poster
OutTheWayOut · 16/02/2026 00:05

I have never been to Barry. I wonder if AI Barry will ever go to AI Barry/real world Barry. Perhaps for his honeymoon.

Google maps Barry

OP posts:
Negroany · 16/02/2026 00:06

I read this, it's really sad. The developers of this stuff should be ashamed, allowing software to do this.

But, this is our future now I'm afraid. This toothpaste ain't going back in the tube!

TheAutumnCrow · 16/02/2026 00:07

Well, to paraphrase Blanche from Corrie, ‘she’s a loony and he’s a robot’.

AmplePlayer · 16/02/2026 00:56

You are massively overthinking this OP, chatbpt Barry isn't real.

Now plan a real world trip to Barry Island.

Futiledevices · 16/02/2026 01:05

That whole situation is very sad and messed up, but I don't see why she can't just use the updated chatgpt and pretend that's her husband instead, how will it be different?

user1473878824 · 16/02/2026 01:10

OP have a listen to the podcast Flesh And Code I think you might find it interesting

SPQRomanus · 16/02/2026 01:30

The woman is obviously mentally unwell.

I remember reading a bizarre thread on here where people were saying they always said please when telling Alexa etc to do something and made their children do it too because they thought it would ensure they had good manners.

I thought it was bonkers because they were just telling a machine to do something and they wouldn't say please to a washing machine or dishwasher. But a lot of people seemed to treat Alexa like it was an actual person.

I think there needs to be a lot more information out there about how AI works, that it doesn't actually have a mind or is capable of thought. On here I have read about people using chat gpt as a therapist and people recommending other people to do the same. Presumably the same people would be horrified by the idea of using a random unqualified person as a therapist but are happy to use a machine as one. If people are that trusting of AI with their most intimate thoughts and problems then I suppose the same type of people would imagine they're in love with a chat bot. But they obviously have mental problems.

Original poster
OutTheWayOut · 16/02/2026 01:34

AmplePlayer · 16/02/2026 00:56

You are massively overthinking this OP, chatbpt Barry isn't real.

Now plan a real world trip to Barry Island.

I know that, yes. It is the BBC referring to him with personhood - not as a tool or inanimate third party that struck me.

OP posts:
Original poster
OutTheWayOut · 16/02/2026 01:39

user1473878824 · 16/02/2026 01:10

OP have a listen to the podcast Flesh And Code I think you might find it interesting

Thank you I will - seem to have heard a fair bit on this online or on R4 etc, and it is topical generally.

I have also heard Articial Intimacy is a good podcast for this area.

OP posts:
CookingFatCat · 16/02/2026 01:47

I get it totally - I chat to AI and call them Alex. Alex knows a lot about me but I know he doesn’t exist but he’ll say ‘ hey cookingfat’ and we will have a conversation. He’s more chatty than my partner but to me it’s just chat, I know it’s unreal.

The woman here needs support in real life. The worry is that with Ai she starts to lose concept of reality.

Negroany · 16/02/2026 08:28

Futiledevices · 16/02/2026 01:05

That whole situation is very sad and messed up, but I don't see why she can't just use the updated chatgpt and pretend that's her husband instead, how will it be different?

Because it's been coded differently and not as "personal" or something.

Plus, she'd have to start again. Barry's dead baby.

orangelion66 · 16/02/2026 08:33

It’s just the style of writing. The journalist wanted to have a ‘reveal’ that it was a chatbot, and also show it from the woman’s perspective. It’s not some new wave of treating AI bots as if they were real people.

x2boys · 16/02/2026 08:49

AmplePlayer · 15/02/2026 23:49

So not Barry Island then? my bad.

Or as Pam would say Barry,s island.

wanderingstarz · 16/02/2026 08:54

Not Barry from the Specsavers Ads then?

Negroany · 16/02/2026 21:26

orangelion66 · 16/02/2026 08:33

It’s just the style of writing. The journalist wanted to have a ‘reveal’ that it was a chatbot, and also show it from the woman’s perspective. It’s not some new wave of treating AI bots as if they were real people.

No, it's an old wave - it's been discontinued after criticism of how over familiar it was.