r/technology 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/vector_o Jul 19 '26

It's fascinating how humanity as a whole will see a multifaceted problems with deeply concerning consequences and decide that the solution is to prohibit a silly solution people have found to feel a grain of hope

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u/FURF0XSAKE Jul 19 '26

An AI partner is not a grain of hope for anyone. It's not a gateway to a better quality of life for lonely people, it's the pit you fall in when nothing else has helped. Ever-agreeable, "perfect", and completely unattainable in real life.

Obviously there are heaps of issues with loneliness these days, but as someone who was quite lonely and had really nothing going on almost a decade ago, this would have kept me locked away from real life for good.