Virtual Romance Is Fueling China’s AI Revolution
Chinese who are getting emotionally attached to chatbot companions could be giving their nation a competitive edge in artificial intelligence.
Chatting with a virtual boyfriend is one way Chinese are getting more comfortable with AI in their lives.
Photographer: Wang Zhao/AFP via Getty Images
While other countries debate the ethics, morality and long-term societal impacts of artificial intelligence, many Chinese are dating their favorite chatbots. According to Microsoft researchers, Xiaoice, its emotive Chinese-speaking chatbot (spun off into a separate company in 2021), had more than 650 million users — in 2018. During the pandemic, many of those users — a demographic dominated by young men — embraced Xiaoice to take the edge off their loneliness.
It's not just men. A subculture of (virtually) infatuated young Chinese women have been known to pay actors to play their virtual boyfriends for real-life dates.