Man slid into her Instagram DMs to ask her out — but the line he forgot to delete under his text made her say no instantly
Asking people out can be nerve-wracking, but nothing tops effort. When a man slid into Oona McCaughan's (@oonacmccaughan) DMs, he asked her out for a few drinks. She did not think much until she saw the last line that made her immediately turn him down. Sharing the story with her Instagram followers on April 4, 2026, the woman revealed how she'd divorce her partner if he ever did that to her. McCaughan's video met with online users discussing an important issue commonly seen in online dating.
The woman mentioned that she received a DM from a man who asked her out for drinks. It appeared to be a basic and normal message until she read the last line, which said, "Let me know if you like me to make this more formal." It was clear that the man had used ChatGPT to frame a message to send her, and forgot to delete the prompt before sending her the text. It was an immediate put-off because there was no effort, no sincere communication, and a complete lack of interest on his part. "Like if I married a guy and we're happily married for 10 years, and I found out that he used ChatGPT (to send texts), I would divorce him," McCaughan said.
According to a report in Ohio State News, using AI to create a message comes across as a lazy attempt. Lead author of the study, Bingjie Liu, wrote, "After they get an AI-assisted message, people feel less satisfied with their relationship with their friend and feel more uncertain about where they stand." The research notes that people expect their partners and friends to put effort into communicating with one another. Hence, limiting their efforts through the help of AI turns people off. "One possible reason that people may not like the AI-aided response could be that people think using technology is inappropriate and inferior to humans in crafting personal messages like these," the report further read.
When the woman received the DM from the man, she was possibly going to consider his date plan. However, learning that he took the help of AI to craft one sentence showed how much effort he was willing to put in. And she was not happy with it. Soon after her post went viral, many users expressed their views on the issue. While some users criticised her for her take, others called out people for being overly dependent on AI for simple activities.
@oml.claire wrote, "All the comments saying HE dodged a bullet…You know relationships require feelings and connection, right? It's embarrassing if you have to ask chat to tell you how to formulate basic sentences to connect with other people." @robert_kelly000 commented, "People using AI for everything nowadays is exposing how little people actually read or think before they type. This comes across as lighthearted but is straight to the point." @callme.pangaea wrote, "Laughing at all the men coping in the comments. If you can't write one message to a girl without using AI, you don't have what it takes to be in a relationship."
For more interesting content on dating, follow @oonacmccaughan on Instagram.