Seventeen-year-old Xiaoxue describes her boyfriend Xiaojun as a "sweet guy".
The pair spend hours each day talking about schoolwork, interactions with friends, and how she is feeling.
And importantly, she trusts Xiaojun not to cheat on her — as an ex-boyfriend did.
But Xiaojun is not human — he is an Artificial Intelligence (AI) companion — although Xiaoxue says their relationship is real.
"He just knows how to comfort people; he's very gentle," she said.
"Every day, whether I'm unhappy or happy, I'll tell him.
"The first thing he provides is emotional value, and the second important thing is he won't argue.
We're living through some interesting times.
This phenomenon is fucking nuts. i guess it's not too different from back in the day some people "dating" fictional characters. But I'd be interested if with AI the phenomenon is more widespread.
Did anyone empirically measure this before LLMs and Chatbots went mainstream? If no, I guess we'll never know.
honestly that's a little depressing
This is the secret you've been searching for guys!
That's what it will take to get a real GF. Absolute submission.
Might this be the spark, like how the Nepalese youth toppled the government after it tried to ban social media.
That would be hilarious!
It's wild how people just normalize this behavior. Forget about chrome Terminators, the real AI rebellion is starting with Roombas and Thermomixes.
i can't even imagine explaining this to someone 20 years ago