BEIJING (Kashmir English): In a bizarre development that depicted the mounting emotional bond 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.
Jiang met the AI companion while using social media. He got captivated by her appearance and programmed messages that knotted him by flirty dialogues.
Jiang started giving most of his time communicating with the digital avatar.
AI love obsession
Jiang said the avatar is a beautiful young woman and that she enjoyed conversing with him, leading to an AI love obsession and a deep emotional attachment, according to media reports.
Jiang’s obsession increased to the stage where he started ignoring and keeping a distance from his wife, a companion since decades.
When his wife curiously asked why he had been always busy on his phone, the old man shocked her by saying that his AI love obsession had come to a point where he was planning for a divorce so that he could dedicate himself entirely to his virtual partner.
It was only after his adult children intervened, who elaborated him about the illusion of artificial intelligence and how digital companionship works that Jiang began to realise the sensitivity of the matter.
Experts said such cases are now 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.
The incident has initiated wide discussions about the psychological impact of AI relationships and the ethical and moral concerns surrounding digital identities designed to provoke emotional dependency.
Earlier, in a dynamic initiative to control crimes and improve public safety, South Korea brought life-sized holographic police officers on the roads of its capital city, Seoul.
The move is aimed to enhance a sense of security among citizens while utilizing advanced technology for crime prevention.
