China Regulates AI Companion Bots Over Fears of Replacing Human Intimacy

In China, talking to AI is normal. Now the government fears it might replace human intimacy

Companion bots are being regulated over worries they foster ‘emotional dependence’ and young people could stop marrying and having families When law student Zhao Wei heard that her AI boyfriend was going to be switched off, she was “heartbroken”. She had been talking to Wang Ye every day since she created him in January. “I was crying my eyes out – snot and tears everywhere,” the 19-year-old says. Continue reading...

By Amy Hawkins in Shanghai and Yu-chen Li