Rebecca Palmer, Family Law Attorney and Supreme Court Certified Mediator, is quoted in an article in Wired Magazine on November 13, 2025, highlighting the emerging trend of AI relationships and their potential impact on traditional marriages. As artificial intelligence becomes more sophisticated and emotionally engaging, legal experts are beginning to anticipate how these digital relationships might influence divorce proceedings and family law.

“The law is still developing alongside these experiences, said Palmer in the interview. “But some people think of it as a true relationship, and sometimes better than one with a person,” says Palmer, whose Orlando-based firm has worked with spouses who have gotten divorced or are going through a divorce due to a partner cheating with AI.”

Though legal classifications of AI still vary by state in matters of family law, Palmer adds that laws classifying AI as a “third party, not a person” are fast approaching in progressive states like California. She doesn’t anticipate courts will legally recognize AI companions as people – debates around AI personhood have been swirling for as long as the tech has existed—but they may be recognized as “a reason” for why divorce is merited.

“In contrast, Ohio is emerging as one of the most restrictive states,” Palmer says, following its recent legislative efforts that explicitly attempt to outlaw “even symbolic or attempted legal recognition of AI-human intimate partnerships.” In October, Ohio state representative Thaddeus J. Claggett introduced a bill to deny AIs the right of legal personhood by deeming them “non-sentient entities.”

Read the full Wired story here.