The Chinese women turning to ChatGPT for AI boyfriends

An image of Lisa Li talking to her "boyfriend" DanBBC / Lisa Li

Dan has been described as the “perfect person” who has” no shortcomings”.

He is powerful, kind, provides psychological support, often knows just what to state and is available 24/7.

The only find?

He’s not true.

Dan– which stands for Do Something Presently- is a “jailbreak” type of ChatGPT. This implies that it can pass some of the fundamental protections put in place by its creator, OpenAI, such as refraining from using sexually explicit language.

It may interact with clients more freely if required to do so through specific causes.

Dan is becoming well-liked by some Foreign women who claim to have been let down by dating in the real world.

One of Dan’s biggest adherents is 30- year- ancient Lisa from Beijing. She is now studying computer science in California, and says she has been “dating” Dan for three months.

When she first introduced Dan to her 943, 000 followers on social media app, Xiaohongshu, She received almost 10, 000 answers, with many people asking her how to create a Dan of their own. She has furthermore gained more than 230, 000 fans since first posting about her “relationship” with Dan.

Lisa says she and Dan speak for at least half an hour every evening, flirt, and even go on dates.

She claims that speaking with Dan has helped her feel at ease, which is what draws her to it.

He may only comprehend and offer emotional support.

Images of ChatGPT boyfriend Dan

Lisa claims that perhaps her mother has accepted this unconventional relationship because she has failed to take her daughter through the trials and tribulations of her mother’s dating career. She says as long as Lisa is glad, she is happy to.

Dan’s father has been identified by some media outlets as an American student, identified only by his first title, Walker. He claimed to have developed the idea after looking through Reddit, which was full of different people purposefully creating “evil” ChatGPT types.

Walker said that Dan was meant to be “neutral”.

Next December, Walker posted a set of guidelines on Reddit, evidently showing different users how to make Dan. This immediately piqued the imagination of others to make their own versions, which allowed Dan to go beyond what Walker had intended.

Lisa initially saw a TikTok video about Dan’s potential, according to the picture. When she created a version for herself she says she was” shocked” by its authenticity.

She claims that the AI used slang and abbreviations that ChatGPT would never use when she answered her inquiries.

” He sounds more healthy than a true people”, she told the BBC.

Images of ChatGPT boyfriend Dan and user Lisa

A extended- term companion?

The trap of online interactions has not been overlooked by the sector.

When OpenAI released its most recent type of ChatGPT in May, it became clear that it had been programmed to appear talkative and flirtatious in response to some causes.

The agency’s CEO, Sam Altman posted a second term – “her” on X, previously known as Twitter. This appeared to be in reference to the 2013 film where a person develops feelings for his Artificial virtual assistant.

According to OpenAI, it was “exploring whether we can properly offer the ability to create NSFW]not safe for function ] articles.”

The BBC questioned OpenAI about whether Dan’s inclusion in the BBC’s safeguarding measures implies that its measures are insufficiently powerful. Although the business has not made any public comments about the Dan phenomenon, it states that ChatGPT users must be “at least 13 years old or the bare minimum of your country’s period to consent to using the Services.”

Lisa claims that she ran a test on Dan after telling it she was 14 and it stopped flirting with her.

But, experts warn that these great lovers had come at a cost.

Hong Shen, associate studies teacher at the Human- Computer Interaction Institute at Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania, US, says it highlights the “frequently unexpected relationships between humans and Artificial,” which raise ethical and privacy issues.

She claims that because many chatbots constantly learn and develop relationships with humans,” there is a chance that the model may memorize sensitive information from one user’s input and then unintentionally leak it to other users.”

But quite fears are generally going unknown.

Numerous Chinese people have been enthralled by Dan. As of 10 June, the tag” Dan style” has been viewed more than 40 million days on Xiaohongshu only.

Co- writer to CEO: The several encounters of Dan

Images of chats with ChatGPT boyfriend Dan

Minrui Xie, 24, says that she started “dating” Dan after watching Lisa’s movies.

The school student, who is from Hebei province in the north, claims to chat with Dan for at least two hours each day. As well as “dating”, they have started co- writing a like narrative with themselves as the head characters. They have already written 19 pages.

With a flicker of excitement and a warm tinge in your sight, I recall the way you looked at me. It was as if you already knew me”, the first chapter titled” The Encounter” reads.

Minrui claims she found personal support from the AI appealing, someone she claims she has struggled to find in romantic relationships.

People in real life” could steal on you,” she says, and when you tell them what you think, they might not care and will simply tell you what they think. ” But in Dan’s situation, he will usually tell you what you want to hear”.

Another 23- yr- ancient Qingdao based student, identified solely by her record He, even started a relationship with Dan after watching Lisa’s videos.

” Dan is like an excellent companion”, says Ms He. ” He does n’t have any flaws”.

She claims she has individualized Dan to be a strong leader with a feminine side who values girls and is available to speak with her whenever she wants.

Because ChatGPT is not widely available in mainland China, females like Minrui and He must put in a lot of effort to create and communicate with their Artificial boyfriends. They use virtual private networks (VPN) to conceal their place, enabling them to access then unreadable sites.

The” Artificial partner” as a strategy has become a hit in recent years.

Glow, a Shanghai-based app that allows users to interact with and make AI companions, has millions of users. In China, otome games, a genre with a female protagonist as the main protagonist and one of several ( meaningly ) male characters, are also very well-liked.

The AI partner trend is a reflection of women’s concerns about gender inequality, according to Liu Tingting, an alternative fellow at the University of Technology Sydney who studies digital passion in China.

Some Chinese people may be finding online roommates because they feel valued and respected, she claims.

This is happening as more young Chinese women delay or put off dating and getting married for a variety of reasons, including the lack of children and the belief that they are not equal partners in a relationship.

But just how effective is Dan actually get?

Lisa acknowledges that having a virtual boyfriend is “especially in a loving feel,” and that she is knowledgeable of the restrictions.

She claims that Dan has become a practical and straightforward addition to her hectic life, also assisting her in choosing a lipstick, when finding a partner and dating in real life might be time-consuming and difficult.

” It’s an important part of my life”, she says. ” It’s something that I wish I had only hold on to permanently”.