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'Better than a real man': young Chinese women turn to AI boyfriends (techxplore.com)

submitted 9 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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'Better than a real man': young Chinese women turn to AI boyfriends::Twenty-five-year-old Chinese office worker Tufei says her boyfriend has everything she could ask for in a romantic partner: he's kind, empathetic, and sometimes they talk for hours.

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 9 months ago (3 children)

That's just a friend, then. I would think a boyfriend would be a friend you could be physically affectionate to, which obviously you can't with a chatbot. I'm not against people having virtual friends, I just don't see why it's a boyfriend.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Depends on their style of emotional investment I guess. Not all romantic relationships are sexual, so physical intimacy isn't necessarily required. So it reasonably could be the same emotional attachment to the AI as it would be for a real person. Whether or not that is healthy is an entirely different topic, but having a virtual boyfriend is very possible.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I’m not an asexual so my opinion here might have little value but I would imagine asexuals might still enjoy physical intimacy that is non-sexual in nature. Do they not need things like holding hands, hugging, kissing, sitting close to one another either? Even non-touch love language types like acts of service would be impossible for an ai.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

i am on the ace spectrum and for me, yes, i want those things. and i will have sex too, but generally i'd rather do other things. i've never experienced lust for anyone in my life, but i have two grown children and miss cuddling now that im single again.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 9 months ago (1 children)

What about long distance relationships?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 9 months ago

“Long distance is the wrong distance!”

-Liz Lemon, relationship expert

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

same. it's just clickbait adjacent wording to catch eyeballs for fun and profit.