Moonstruck started because an older woman asked me to help make her an AI boyfriend.

I said yes because I was curious and because it sounded a little ridiculous in the best way. I immersed myself in building something for her that was charming, personal, and exactly what she wanted. But the more I worked on it, the more I realized that deep down I was also building it for my future self. Or at least the future me I hope stays intact as I get older.

I've started noticing something. The world changes the way it talks to and interacts with older people, especially women. Conversations naturally steer toward what hurts, what is failing, what you can no longer be trusted to do. Older people get reduced to logistics, medication, mobility, safety, risk. All important. But also, how bleak!

People are not only their limitations.

Even with the passage of time, they are still funny. Romantic. Curious. Mischievous. They want to be surprised and flirted with. They still want something made for them with care. That is the part that’s most important to me and why I want Moonstruck to exist. It’s a private, ongoing love story you get to step into and shape as you go. It uses AI, but you will mostly forget that, which is actually the idea. It helps someone build a love story that arrives in pieces and is for their eyes only. I kept thinking about Dickens and The Pickwick Papers, and the pleasure of a story arriving chapter by chapter. Moonstruck is trying to do that in a modern way. You can think of it as a serialized romance novel for one.

It is not - I repeat not - trying to replace real people or relationships. It isn’t family, friendship, marriage, or actual human love. A full life needs people who show up, who call, who take you out for your birthday. Moonstruck is a private escape designed for delight and fantasy because, well, loneliness is real. Your family moves away, children build their own lives, friends get sick or pass away, and over time it gradually turns into one less phone call or dinner or reason to put on lipstick. Moonstruck does not entirely fix that, but I do believe it can bring a bit of joy to your day. It can give you a reason to laugh and daydream with abandon.

Eventually, my hope is it becomes something people carry back into the real world. I think about Moonstruck users meeting for a glass of wine, a book club, or even dinner around my table. I care about the people who want to use this, and want them to feel like it was made by someone who'd be genuinely happy to have them over.

Moonstruck is not designed to be a replacement for love. It's a reminder that you are still allowed to want it at any age.