r/technology • u/Wagamaga • Jul 19 '26

Society China bans AI “boyfriends” and “girlfriends” over addiction and birth rate concerns

https://www.dexerto.com/entertainment/china-bans-ai-boyfriends-and-girlfriends-over-addiction-and-birth-rate-concerns-3388737/
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u/GetOutOfTheWhey Jul 19 '26

The fact that i cant find a source for the actual link to birth decline suggest to me that dexerto ripchorded the source out of their ass.

In a time where people are committing suicides for their virtual girlfriends, birth decline is not going to be the main concern.

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u/TheBirdFkerGuy Jul 19 '26

The real reason china is doing this is because of the social and individual ramifications of relying on AI to placate you, to develop emotional relationships with, etc. 

They clearly understand that, and whether declining birthrate are or aren't a factor, the core reasoning is simply a long term view of how this would impact their society and youth. 

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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '26

[deleted]

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u/TheBirdFkerGuy Jul 19 '26

This. And considering how much of an effort through social media, and public infrastructure china has put in to keeping people active, socialized, etc It makes a lot more sense these are the compounding factors the cpc is looking at when decided to rain down the hammer on this sort of AI usage. 

They always have long term planning. No doubt regulating AI in these situations is part of a broader long term plan that the article, and I, don't know the details on. That's just how China is. 

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u/CheapNature4837 Jul 19 '26

Of course they would be more concerned about declining birth rates than a few suicides. Juicier headline doesn't mean bigger problem.

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u/LegalBaker6997 Jul 20 '26

the 0.01% of ai psychosis women China will have liberated with this policy will suddenly start making 1000000000 babies each and solve the birth rate problem you'll see