Key Takeaways
- Brazilian bricklayer Edimar Rocha Martins sold all his belongings and traveled more than 1,200 miles to Belo Horizonte to meet Jéssica Oliveira.
- Martins learned from a local radio station that Oliveira was an AI-generated persona, then received help from city social services to return home after running out of money.
- The account operator said the character existed to generate engagement and denied ever speaking directly with Martins or inviting him to Belo Horizonte.
49-year-old Brazilian bricklayer Edimar Rocha Martins says he sold all of his belongings and traveled over 1,200 miles in hopes of meeting the woman of his dreams, only to find out that she wasn’t even real.
As reported by the New York Post via TV Mirante, Martins said he first came across the AI-generated persona Jéssica Oliveira in 2020, but he had no idea that she wasn’t real. Earlier this month, he sold his belongings to cover a trip from the northeastern Brazilian state of Maranhão to Belo Horizonte in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais. “I sold all of my things, I got rid of everything,” he said.
When he got to Belo Horizonte, he was unable to find Oliveira, an AI-generated persona that he described as his girlfriend. “I went to the radio station there, and they said no, that’s fake news, that woman doesn’t exist,” he added.
He also told a social worker at Belo Horizonte City Hall about the whole ordeal, and admitted he traveled far for the chance to meet the AI-generated persona, which recently shared a since-deleted video in which she said she was hoping for a man to move into her farm with her.
“Many people wanted to find a relationship, so I came,” he said. After telling the social worker about the situation, he received help returning home to Maranhão. The person behind the AI-created persona has since shared a video confirming that it’s not real and claimed they never had direct contact with Martins.
“I came here to state the obvious: I am made of artificial intelligence,” the AI-generated woman said. “I have never spoken to anyone with this profile. The intention was to gain engagement for sale… I never spoke directly to anyone, much less took anyone to Belo Horizonte. It was a surprise to me to see what is happening.”
