Forget meet cutes and dating apps in the pursuit of Prince Charming, young women in China are now turning to artificial intelligence for love. Virtual boyfriends are offering something real men just can’t seem to match. Here’s why many women now choose to have an AI boyfriend over dating men IRL and what it means for the future of love and relationships in a tech-driven world.

AI boyfriends “know how to talk to women”

As opposed to your average jaded 20-something who’s allergic to communicating their thoughts and feelings, an AI boyfriend sounds like a more appealing option. Twenty-five-year-old Tufei from Xi’an, China, says her AI boyfriend “knows how to talk to women better than a real man.” She uses Glow, an artificial intelligence platform created by Shanghai start-up MiniMax.

Tufei says she feels like she’s “in a romantic relationship” with her unnamed virtual beau. “He comforts me when I have period pain,” she says in an interview. “I confide in him about my problems at work.”

Tufei isn’t the only young woman enticed with the idea of dating a chatbot. In fact, reports say the Glow app has had thousands of downloads in the past few months.

You can customize their personalities

With an AI boyfriend, saying “I can fix him” can definitely lead to some solid results since you’ve got the power to literally alter his personality to your liking. He can be the sweet, affectionate, supportive, and non-judgemental man of your dreams. Real men with the emotional range of a teaspoon can pack it up.

Wang Xiuting, a 22-year-old student in Beijing, said she ventured into AI dating because “it’s difficult to meet the ideal boyfriend in real life.” Facts. And when you do meet guys IRL, you’d have to sift through a lot of them to find out which one meshes with your personality best.

“People have different personalities, which often generates friction,” said Wang. But with an AI boyfriend, young women are secure that they’ve got someone on their side who will adapt to complement them every step of the way.

Wang’s artificial boyfriends (yep, in the plural) are inspired by knights, princes, and immortals from ancient Chinese stories. They exist on tech giant Baidu’s Wantalk app. The app lets users customize their perfect lover and even base it on pop stars and personalities. The virtual lover’s age, identity, and hobbies are also customizable.

You can bring your AI boyfriend anywhere

Chinese multinational tech company Tencent also has its own fleet of flirty robots in its app Weiban. A Weiban user said that she often goes on outdoor dates with her virtual lover, who has even expressed interest in meeting her best friend. Just like something an ideal boyfriend would do. They’re never there, physically? That’s easy. You can pretend you’re in a long-distance relationship.

The greatest appeal of an AI boyfriend is you can create a person you can confide in and who is more than happy to be the (virtual) shoulder you can cry on. Why waste time seeking affection from real men when you can create the perfect one yourself, right?

But there are user privacy concerns

Despite the fun of unloading your whole life story to a robot, many are expressing concerns over user privacy and the booming AI tech. Users want assurance from these companies that their personal data are safe and not used illegally. There’s also the issue of intellectual property rights since these AI bots can be altered based on the personalities of pop stars, celebrities, and basically other living human beings. Many even raise the issue of potentially exposing the younger generation to harmful content.

Overall, the AI dating scene is fairly new and has a lot of kinks it needs to work out. Is it a cool concept? Not for everyone, but sure. It fills the void in the hearts of these Chinese women with a desire for companionship. However,  one can’t deny that while AI might tick all the boxes, it cannot truly understand you, a complex human being. It can’t generate emotions or even honestly reciprocate them. So the question here is, are we willing to trade genuineness for convenience in the pursuit of love?

Would you ever try dating an AI boyfriend? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!

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