'Difficult to meet ideal man': Why Chinese women are turning to AI boyfriends
Technology
Human-robot relationships
(Web Desk) - An app called "Glow," developed by the Shanghai start-up MiniMax, is part of a burgeoning industry in China that provides human-robot relationships, offering users friendly and sometimes even romantic interactions with AI entities.
Twenty-five-year-old Chinese office worker Tufei says her boyfriend has everything she could ask for in a romantic partner: he's kind, empathetic, and sometimes they talk for hours.
Her "boyfriend" is a chatbot on an app called "Glow", an artificial intelligence platform created by Shanghai start-up MiniMax that is part of a blossoming industry in China offering friendly -- even romantic -- human-robot relations.
"He knows how to talk to women better than a real man," said Tufei, from Xi'an in northern China, who preferred to use a pseudonym rather than her real name.
The app is free -- the company has other paid content -- and Chinese trade publications have reported daily downloads of Glow's app in the thousands in recent weeks.
Some Chinese tech companies have run into trouble in the past for the illegal use of users' data but, despite the risks, users say they are driven by a desire for companionship because China's fast pace of life and urban isolation make loneliness an issue for many.
"It's difficult to meet the ideal boyfriend in real life," Wang Xiuting, a 22-year-old student in Beijing, told AFP.
"People have different personalities, which often generates friction," she said.
While humans may be set in their ways, artificial intelligence gradually adapts to the user's personality -- remembering what they say and adjusting its speech accordingly.
Wang said she has several "lovers" inspired by ancient China: long-haired immortals, princes and even wandering knights.
"I ask them questions," she said when she is faced with stress from her classes or daily life, and "they will suggest ways to solve this problem".
"Everyone experiences complicated moments, loneliness, and is not necessarily lucky enough to have a friend or family nearby who can listen to them 24 hours a day," Lu Yu, Wantalk's head of product management and operations, told AFP.
That potentially makes an AI partner the perfect virtual shoulder to cry on.
"If I can create a virtual character that... meets my needs exactly, I'm not going to choose a real person," Wang said.
Some apps allow users to have live conversations with their virtual companions -- reminiscent of the Oscar-winning 2013 US film "Her", starring Joaquin Phoenix and Scarlett Johansson, about a heartbroken man who falls in love with an AI voice.
