Last weekend, a Colorado couple exchanged vows at the Historic Morrison Church, taking their wedding to new heights of innovation. While the church itself boasts a rich history dating back to the 1800s, it would see something unusual as Reece Wiench and Deyton Truitt chose to blend tradition with the future by employing the services of an unconventional wedding officiant – ChatGPT.
ChatGPT officiates Colorado wedding for Army soldier and bride before deployment https://t.co/xP2y2L8fK2
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In its first officiant role, the chatbot addressed the wedding guests, saying, “Thank you all for joining us today to celebrate the extraordinary love and unity of Reece Wiench and Deyton Truitt.” It was an unconventional choice, yet the couple had their reasons.
The couple revealed that they planned their wedding in just five days due to Truitt’s upcoming deployment in the Army, with Wiench intending to join him after completing basic training. As Colorado does not mandate a licensed marriage official for ceremonies, the bride’s father, Stephen Wiench, suggested the idea of using an “easier and cheaper” officiant – an AI chatbot.
However, the road to having ChatGPT as their wedding officiant was not without obstacles. Initially, the chatbot refused the instruction, citing its lack of physical presence: “I can’t do this, I don’t have eyes, I don’t have a body. I can’t officiate at your wedding,” Wiench recalled the bot’s initial response in an interview with CBS Colorado.
With more persistence, the chatbot came around and the couple personalized its involvement in the ceremony by feeding it with personal information to incorporate into its remarks.
To ensure their guests were informed, they sent out a message written by ChatGPT, explaining that the wedding would be officiated by artificial intelligence.
In the message, the chatbot assured guests of its ability to capture the significance of the moment. “During the ceremony, I will eloquently express the significance of this historic moment and the limitless possibilities that arise when love and technology intersect,” the bot had written.
During the wedding, the couple placed a robot mask over a speaker to create the illusion of a physical presence.
“We are honored and grateful to each and every one of you here, especially those who have traveled out of state – notably, Kansas,” the chatbot said to the guests present at the ceremony.
Despite relying on AI for the officiating duties, the couple emphasized that they did not entrust ChatGPT to write their vows. However, the AI-officiated wedding reportedly went well as the couple and their guests expressed satisfaction with the ceremony.
