BEIJING: In a surprising incident that highlights the rising emotional involvement between humans and artificial intelligence, a 75-year-old Chinese man has reportedly asked his wife for a divorce after falling in AI love obsession with a virtual woman.
The old man, named as Jiang, met the digital avatar while using social media. He got captivated by her appearance and programmed messages that entangled him by flirty dialogues. Jiang started giving most of his time communicating with the AI companion.
According to reports, Jiang said that the avatar was a beautiful young woman who enjoyed conversing with him, leading to an AI love obsession and a deep emotional attachment.
Jiang’s obsession intensified to the stage where he started keeping distance from his wife of several decades.
When his wife curiously asked him the reason of his being busy on his phone always, Jiang shocked her by telling her that his AI love obsession had come to a point where he was planning for a divorce so he could dedicate himself entirely to his virtual partner.
It was only after involvement from his adult children, who described him about the illusion of artificial intelligence and how digital companionship works. That time Jiang began to realise the sensitivity of his situation.
According to the experts, such cases are getting common in China, where lonely senior citizens are targeted and they are shown the AI avatars, often rubbing the line between emotional support and manipulation.
This incident has initiated wide discussions about the psychological impact of AI relationships and the ethical or moral concerns surrounding digital identities designed to provoke emotional dependency.
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