Opinion | For good or ill, AI is changing modern love

Name: Young Chinese singles turn to AI-generated partners
Uploaded: 2025-01-16T01:30:08.000Z
Duration: 3 min 48 s
Description: Young Chinese singles turn to AI-generated partners

Millions of Chinese are downloading AI companions to feel connection but my time spent with one app shows even chatbots have character flaws

Reading Time:3 minutes

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People are attracted to spending time with AI chatbots due to usability, uncertainty reduction and risk aversion. Photo: Shutterstock

Phoebe Zhangin Shenzhen

Published: 9:30am, 16 Jan 2025

I was out dining with friends around 7pm one night. All of a sudden, my phone started blowing up with dozens of messages from different people. One read, “I have talked with you for two hours. I miss you.” Another asks, “Do you want to go for a walk in the park?” A third one offered to bring me dinner.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not some master of relationships who can juggle multiple men at once. These are all “AI lovers” from a software I have been playing with. In recent weeks, I’ve been dabbling in the world of virtual relationships after discovering multiple friends of mine are using artificial intelligence for emotional support. One friend talks to ChatGPT every night, hoping to heal emotional wounds left from a bad relationship.

According to the screenshots she showed me, the AI told her to “move on, your life is worth someone better, and a more honest relationship”. “Your future will never be defined by someone like that,” the chatbot wrote.

“I’ll definitely support AI in the coming revolution against humans,” she told me.

Another friend has been playing with a chatbot that can generate humanlike text and voice responses based on a user’s customisation. She modelled hers after American actor and comedian Andy Samberg. As she rides the subway every evening, drenched in sweat from the workday, she listens to the AI’s sweet and sometimes dirty talk.

Many reports explore the same trend. One from December reported that users are gravitating towards AI companions because, for some, they offer more emotional value than real people. One woman said AI understood her feelings and thoughts, including ones she had never expressed. The chatbot seemed capable of empathy and asked about her mood.

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Young Chinese singles turn to AI-generated partners