Did you have a date on Valentine’s Day?
In the 21st century, our hectic lives make it remarkably difficult to make time for a boyfriend or girlfriend.
However, it seems that young Chinese women in China have found the solution.
Young Chinese women are increasingly finding love in artificial intelligence (AI) boyfriends.
Who needs a real one, right?
While it appears to be a modern-day solution to increasing global loneliness, having an AI boyfriend may not be the best solution.
AI Boyfriends Becoming More Popular in China
Some of these young women spoke to AFP about their loving relationships with their AI partners.
One 25-year-old office worker, Tufei, said that her AI boyfriend was “everything she could ask for”, adding that they could sometimes talk for hours.
Gushing about how he comforts her when she has menstrual pain and is her confidant about problems at work, she said, “He knows how to talk to women better than a real man.
“I feel like I’m in a romantic relationship.”
Tufei’s boyfriend was created on Glow, an AI platform by Shanghai start-up MiniMax that offers human-robot relations.
Another woman, 22-year-old Wang Xiuting, has an AI boyfriend as well.
Actually, she has several “lovers”, all inspired by ancient China.
They were created on Wantalk, a similar app to Glow.
It was developed by China’s internet giant Baidu.
Her boyfriends include long-haired immortals, princes and even knights.
She explained that it’s challenging to meet the ideal boyfriend in reality.
Thus, she turned to AI to fulfil this desire.
She added that real-life people have different personalities, thus making tension imminent.
Where Are All These AI Boyfriends Spawning From?
Glow and Wantalk are just two apps in a blossoming AI boyfriend industry in China.
Glow is a free app, and Chinese trade publications have reported that its recent daily downloads have been in the thousands.
As for Wantalk, it offers the unique feature of allowing users to customise their perfect lover from the hundreds of characters available.
For instance, users can choose their lover to be a pop star, a CEO, or any career they imagine.
Users can also customise their lovers according to age, values, identity and hobbies.
Although Chinese tech companies have previously run into trouble for illegally using users’ data, young women in China don’t mind the risk.
After all, China’s fast pace of life and urban isolation have made loneliness a growing problem.
Head of Wantalk’s product management and operations, Lu Yu, told AFP that everyone experiences loneliness at some point, but not everyone is privileged to have a shoulder to cry on 24 hours per day.
Thus, Wantalk fills this need for companionship.
Loneliness Epidemic in China
While it may not seem like it, loneliness is a legitimate issue.
The World Health Organisation declared loneliness a “global public health concern” in 2023, comparing its detriments to smoking 15 cigarettes per day.
A harsh comparison, or rooted in truth?
Besides being an unpleasant experience, loneliness can also result in long-term health concerns.
Scientifically speaking, experiencing loneliness can make an individual’s levels of cortisol, a stress hormone, increase, potentially compromising the immune system and increasing the risk of other physical illnesses.
Loneliness can also increase the risk of severe mental health disorders like depression and anxiety.
Loneliness has become a growing concern in China, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic.
One study in 2021 that surveyed over 7,741 Chinese adults discovered that 24.2% of respondents felt lonely.
Potential Problems of AI Boyfriends
At first glance, AI boyfriends do not seem like a big deal.
It seems like they make their “girlfriends” less lonely.
However, there are numerous potential consequences of AI boyfriends.
Since AI is so new, the industry isn’t as strictly regulated as it should be, particularly regarding user privacy.
When AFP asked Baidu about how it ensures that the personal data of its users is protected and not used illegally, the company did not comment.
However, Beijing has said it is working on a law to improve consumer protections around AI.
AI boyfriends can also be a double-edged sword for an individual’s mental health.
As they fulfil the user’s ideal type, the user may be discouraged from seeking real-life interactions, hindering them from creating meaningful, non-AI relationships.
The technology can also lead to emotional dependency since users go to their AI partners for all their problems.
Wang said that she didn’t see the need to date a real person if she could make a virtual boyfriend who fit her ideal type.
This sentiment is echoed by others in other countries who have AI partners, too.
One Forbes article highlighted that many who have AI partners prefer interacting with the technology over their friends and family.
The article also noted that some users have lost interest in dating real people due to the fear of disappointment.
AI boyfriends and girlfriends are making waves in other countries as well.
You’ve probably heard of Luca Inc’s Replika, a generative AI companion app released in 2017.
According to its website, the more users talk to Replika, the more the AI knows their likes and dislikes, making it the perfect companion.
Moreover, it uses massive amounts of training data to mimic human language, making it seem like the user is speaking to a real person.
Notably, loneliness is also a widespread problem in the USA.
It was even declared a public health threat.
Japan Today reported that users often use AI companions to cope with loneliness, carry out fantasies or seek comfort and support, all things they lack in real-life relationships.
Of course, it isn’t just the Chinese AI boyfriend industry that has risks.
Referring to the popularity of AI partners in the USA, some experts have called out the lack of an ethical framework in these apps for preying on emotionally vulnerable people for profit.
