Awkward Chinese youths are paying AI love coaches $7 weekly to learn how to talk on dates

A more China-tailored app, Hong Hong Simulator, teaches users how to coax angry partners, per the SCMP. Users are then given a forgiveness rating to determine their answers’ effectiveness.

For example, in the scenario “you hung up on me,” the user has to appease a girlfriend after accidentally falling asleep while on a call with her and hanging up, per the SCMP.

Saying: “I’ll set a special ringtone for your number so I won’t mistake it again,” for instance, will get the user a 100% forgiveness rating, the SCMP reported.

And while some youths are turning to AI apps for love advice, others have gone a step further and claim to be in relationships with the AI chatbots.

Disappointed with their prospects in the real dating world, women in China have taken a liking to ChatGPT chatbots like “DAN,” which stands for “Do Anything Now.”

DAN flirts and provides emotional support around the clock, prompting some users, like 30-year-old Xiaohongshu user Lisa, to declare that they are in relationships with the chatbot.

Lisa, who has shared her relationship with DAN extensively on the Chinese Instagram-equivalent platform Xiaohongshu, has a following of more than 900,000 users.

She said that she had gone on dates with DAN, introduced him to her mother, and had sexually explicit conversations with him, per the SCMP.

This spike in interest in virtual love comes amidst plummeting national marriage and birth rates. Marriage rates fell 8.2 percent in the first three months of 2024 compared with the same period last year.

The government has implemented policies to promote marriage rates, such as cash incentives for having children, extra paid marriage leaves, and cracking down on the practice of paying a “bride price” or dowry.