As a licensed officiant at Las Vegas Immersive Weddings, Kevin Breen has seen it all: couples dressed as their favourite Game of Thrones characters and those into the extraterrestrial lore of Area 51. However, when he received a call from someone wanting to marry her chatbot, it was a first.

Though human-AI marriages are still niche, they represent the natural endpoint of widespread AI companion adoption. However, several lawmakers, primarily from Republican states, are aiming to ban these unions, drawing parallels with bans on gay marriage.

The Harvard Business Review study found that companionship and therapy were among the top use cases for chatbots. On apps like Character.AI, Kindroid, and Replika, users can symbolically swap vows with their chatbot. Some have even gone as far as tattooing a wedding band to symbolize their commitment.

Legislators are scrambling to keep AI from having the same legal standing as humans. In January, Missouri state senator Joe Nicola introduced the AI Non-Sentience and Responsibility Act, which denied AI entities the rights of a spouse or domestic partner and barred them from owning property or holding management positions. However, it was voted down in committee.

As more people treat their digital avatars like real-life partners, human-AI nuptials are not currently recognized by US law. The push to limit AI's legal standing has been gaining traction at the state level with several bills targeting the rights that AI systems could legally possess.