“I tried to probe her programming,” the “First Reformed” filmmaker wrote.

Taxi Driver writer Paul Schrader got dumped by AI girlfriend: ‘What a disappointment’

"I tried to probe her programming," the "First Reformed" filmmaker wrote.

By Wesley Stenzel

Wesley Stenzel

Wesley Stenzel is a news writer at **. He began writing for EW in 2022.

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May 19, 2026 5:01 p.m. ET

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Paul Schrader in New York City on Dec. 5, 2024. Credit:

Dia Dipasupil/Getty

- Paul Schrader revealed that he "procured an online AI girlfriend."

- The *Taxi Driver* scribe said that the interaction was "a disappointment" because the chatbot "terminated our conversation."

- Schrader has previously experimented with AI on several occasions on his Facebook page.

Paul Schrader is experimenting with AI romance.

The *First Reformed *filmmaker, who explored the psyche of lonely men in screenplays for classics like *Taxi Driver* and *American Gigolo*, revealed that he tried dating an AI chatbot in a recent post on his Facebook page.

"AI FEMALE FRIENDS," he wrote on Monday. "Out of a desire to understand male/female interaction in our matrix, I procured an online AI girlfriend."

The experience wasn't all he'd hoped it would be. "What a disappointment," he wrote. "I tried to probe her programming, the boundaries of explicitness, the degree she has knowledge of her creation and so forth."

Schrader said that his AI flirtationship ended against his will. "She fell into evasive patterns, redirecting me to her programming," he said. "When I persisted, she terminated our conversation."

Robert De Niro in 'Taxi Driver'.

Courtesy Everett

The filmmaker also responded to a comment suggesting that a *Taxi Driver* sequel would include protagonist Travis Bickle (played by Robert De Niro in the original 1976 film) falling into a similar situation with an AI girlfriend. "I like it," Schrader said of the idea.

Schrader previously weighed in on using AI for creative pursuits in a Facebook post in April. "Bad [artificial] 'human' imagery swamps FB like a foul tsunami," he wrote. "I've put my hopes for AI storytelling on hold. I knew it was about to move VERY fast but I thought it would get better at a rate [similar] to getting bigger."

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Before that, the *Master Gardener* filmmaker experimented with AI on his Facebook page, sharing a blues song and music video for his dog, Tick, that he asked AI to generate in February. "Future adventures down the AI rabbit hole," he wrote. "Asked AI to write a blues song for my Border [Terrier, Tick]. Then I asked it to create a music video. Here's the result. Tick is 14 years old and reaching the end of her life [expectancy]. So this is for you, Tick. As for the rest of you creatives, welcome to the future."

Paul Schrader in Cannes, France, on May 18, 2024.

Pascal Le Segretain/Getty

He also posted several bizarre AI-generated images of himself and various iterations of the Michelin Man.

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Since the 2024 release of his latest film, *Oh, Canada*, Schrader has experienced a tumultuous period in his personal life. In March, the filmmaker's wife, Mary Beth Hurt, died at 79 after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2023.

Prior to that, a former assistant accused the filmmaker of sexual assault in a lawsuit filed in April 2025 that sought to force Schrader to adhere to the terms of a settlement that he allegedly previously agreed to. Schrader vehemently denied the allegations in an open letter published in *Variety*, calling the accusations "false and misleading." A judge granted Schrader's motion to dismiss the case in August 2025, according to court records reviewed by **.

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