  Relationships are essential to our happiness and wellbeing. The dissolution
of a relationship, the final stage of relationship's lifecycle and one of the
most stressful events in an individual's life, can have profound and
long-lasting impacts on people. With the breakup process increasingly
facilitated by computer-mediated communication (CMC), and the likely future
influence of AI-mediated communication (AIMC) tools, we conducted a
semi-structured interview study with 21 participants. We aim to understand: 1)
the current role of technology in the breakup process, 2) the needs and support
individuals have during the process, and 3) how AI might address these needs.
Our research shows that people have distinct needs at various stages of ending
a relationship. Presently, technology is used for information gathering and
community support, acting as a catalyst for breakups, enabling ghosting and
blocking, and facilitating communication. Participants anticipate that AI could
aid in sense-making of their relationship leading up to the breakup, act as a
mediator, assist in crafting appropriate wording, tones, and language during
breakup conversations, and support companionship, reflection, recovery, and
growth after a breakup. Our findings also demonstrate an overlap between the
breakup process and the Transtheoretical Model (TTM) of behavior change.
Through the lens of TTM, we explore the potential support and affordances AI
could offer in breakups, including its benefits and the necessary precautions
regarding AI's role in this sensitive process.
