A 49-year-old Brazilian bricklayer has vowed to try finding love again after selling his belongings and travelling more than 1,200 miles to meet a woman he had followed online for years, only to discover that she was an artificial intelligence-generated character.
Edimar Rocha Martins travelled from Imperatriz in northeastern Brazil to Belo Horizonte in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais, believing he would finally meet Jéssica Oliveira, the woman he had hoped to build a relationship with.
His journey ended in disappointment when he arrived on October 11 and learnt that the woman he had been communicating with did not exist as a real person.
Martins told Brazilian broadcaster TV Mirante that he first encountered the account in 2020 and never suspected that the woman was an AI-generated persona.
The bricklayer had sold his personal belongings on October 9 to finance the journey. By the time he reached Belo Horizonte, he had been unable to find the woman and eventually ran out of money.
He sought help at the city hall, where he explained his situation to a social worker and received assistance to return home.
Martins said loneliness had motivated him to travel in the hope of finding a lasting relationship.
The account associated with Jéssica Oliveira, also known as Jessica Fazendeira, had attracted about 300,000 followers on TikTok. Videos featuring the AI-generated woman portrayed her as someone looking for a man to live with her on a farm, promising to provide for him financially.
In one video, the character said she wanted a man to move to her farm and never have to work again.
However, the person behind the account later acknowledged that the character was created using artificial intelligence and denied having direct conversations with anyone through the profile.
In a subsequent video, the account operator said the profile had been created to generate engagement and support commercial activities on TikTok, including sales through TikTok Shop.
The operator also expressed surprise at the attention surrounding Martins’ journey and denied inviting him to Belo Horizonte.
Despite the experience, Martins has not abandoned his search for a partner. He said he intends to return to Belo Horizonte to meet someone else, expressing determination to continue looking for love.
