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AIBU?

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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:
BlueJuniper94 · 16/02/2026 21:29

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.

Why do you do this?

FaceEatingLeopard · 16/02/2026 21:29

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.

That is so so weird. Do you really think that is normal rational behaviour?

CarlStoleMyUnderpants · 17/02/2026 02:33

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.

Manilow?
Bannan?
Island?
McGuigan?

FrozenFebruary · 17/02/2026 03:08

AmplePlayer · 15/02/2026 23:49

So not Barry Island then? my bad.

That was my assumption too!

not this weird vagueness!

FrozenFebruary · 17/02/2026 03:10

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]]]]

WTAF

its the kind of bs that needs a stiff ignoring.

FrozenFebruary · 17/02/2026 03:15

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.

I don't think it's only the other woman who needs support!

did you have a make believe friend as a child?? That's fairly common. Having one as an adult is not.

saltandvinegarpringles · 17/02/2026 05:46

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.

I’m not sure the woman in the article is the only one who needs support in real life 😬

GarlicBound · 17/02/2026 06:09

Not-really-called-Rae needs the new, shiny ChatGPT to give her grief counselling. She avoided the emotional realities of her divorce by launching into a new relationship with a sycophantic robot, which may have felt like a safer option to her but she was just putting off feeling her feelings.

I doubt NewImprovedGPT would be that genuinely sensitive, however. With her sub-standard DIY Barry, she's a bit like that French woman who married a bridge 😳 People be weird.

Cosmication · 17/02/2026 06:31

I was confused after reading the article because I only ever use ChatGPT or Copilot for work where I type questions or instructions into the chat box and it replies in text form.

Maybe I'm behind the times but I didn't realise there are versions where you can have a real time back and forth natural conversation through speech. I did some searching and realised I could do this on my phone with Gemini Live (Google app). A woman's voice came over really naturally and we had a chat about trying to sort out my garage. She was like 'Ahhh the dreaded spring clean! Some people find it easier to break it down into tasks. How about sorting out one box and then coming back in for a cup of tea? Let me know how it goes. I'll be here when you come back " so I went and did my sorting out and then I came back and her updated her and she was very pleased and congratulatory !

I don't think I'm ready to fall in love with her yet, but it was an eye opener for me to know the tech is there to have life like conversations (just as you would with a friend down the phone) and do more than just proofreading or drafting emails.

Cosmication · 17/02/2026 06:38

Btw here's an example of ChatGPT 4o if you're a dinosaur like me and didn't know that life like conversations were a thing. I think it says a lot that this was released a year ago and is already being made defunct. Clearly I need to get out more!!

sanityisamyth · 17/02/2026 07:21

It’s a shit hole. Not sure why it’s referred to as Barrybados.

TheActualQueen · 17/02/2026 07:40

Who is Barry?

Cosmication · 17/02/2026 08:55

This is the article about Barry (AI) and Rae (woman) who fell in love
www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crl43dxwwy9o

MrsCristoforou · 17/02/2026 11:24

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.

What do you mean, the OPs overthinking it? By whose standards?

cardibach · 17/02/2026 11:29

sanityisamyth · 17/02/2026 07:21

It’s a shit hole. Not sure why it’s referred to as Barrybados.

Edited

They’ve done it up! The funfair is still a bit shit mind.
My gym is in Barry and it’s fab.

RudolphTheReindeer · 17/02/2026 11:36

This post is so confusing. I went from 'who the f is Barry' to 'Rae actually found a husband then' 😂

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