World · Latin America · 2 hrs ago
Man travels from Maranhão to Belo Horizonte to meet AI-created woman
Edimar Rocha Martins travelled more than 2,000 km from Imperatriz, Maranhão, to Belo Horizonte, hoping to meet a woman he had spoken to online.
The woman presented herself in videos as Jéssica and said she owned a farm in Minas Gerais where they could live together.
Jéssica was an AI-created character, and Martins discovered she did not exist in person after he arrived.
He said loneliness after his mother’s death helped lead him to see the online relationship as a chance for a new life.
Belo Horizonte’s migrant support service helped him with food, a shower and guidance, and provided a bus ticket after he said he could not afford to return.
The reports differ on the ticket’s destination: one says Augustinópolis, while another says Araguatins, both in Tocantins.
City officials warned people to check online content carefully, and the reports say the case had not been registered with police or that police had not yet responded.
Edimar Rocha Martins, 49, travelled more than 2,000 kilometres from Imperatriz, Maranhão, to Belo Horizonte to meet a woman he had encountered on social media.
The woman, who presented herself as Jéssica, was an artificial-intelligence-created character, and Martins discovered she did not exist in the real world after arriving.
She had said she owned a farm in Minas Gerais and promised that they could live together there.
Unable to afford the return journey, Martins received help from Belo Horizonte’s municipal migrant support service.
The outlets differ on his destination: CNN Brasil reported Araguatins, while Metrópoles reported Augustinópolis, both in Tocantins.
- Who
- Edimar Rocha Martins, a 49-year-old bricklayer.
- What
- He travelled to meet a woman he had encountered online, then discovered she was an AI-created character.
- When
- He left on Friday the 9th and arrived in Belo Horizonte on Sunday the 11th; he received help to travel onward on Tuesday the 13th.
- Where
- From Imperatriz, Maranhão, to Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais.
- Why
- He hoped to live with the woman, who had said she owned a farm in Minas Gerais.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Martins left Imperatriz, Maranhão, to travel to Belo Horizonte.
He arrived in Belo Horizonte and discovered that the woman he had travelled to meet did not exist in the real world.
The municipal migrant support service provided help for his onward journey.
- Traveller
- Edimar Rocha Martins, 49
- Starting point
- Imperatriz, Maranhão
- Distance
- More than 2,000 kilometres
- Online character
- Jéssica, an AI-created woman
- Promised home
- A farm in Minas Gerais
- Reported onward destinations
- Araguatins (CNN Brasil); Augustinópolis (Metrópoles)
3 sources
What people are saying
I no longer want to stay in Imperatriz; I don't like it there. I liked it when my mother was alive. My whole family knows that. Sometimes, loneliness inside the home brings a lot of trouble into a person's life. That's why I came after her.
She said, 'No, you'll live with me here on the farm.' So I said, 'Then I'll go.'
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