Across the world, artificial intelligence is moving from the workplace into the most intimate corners of private life. What began as productivity software is now evolving into something more personal: digital companions designed to simulate friendship, romance and emotional attachment. A growing number of people are no longer dating other humans. They are dating software – for a monthly subscription fee.
China’s booming market for AI “boyfriends” has been framed as a novelty story – a strange byproduct of generative AI and urban loneliness. But it deserves a more serious reading. Urbanised, high-pressure societies are fertile ground for technologies that promise connection without cost. The demand reflects real human need but meeting that need with simulation rather than reciprocity carries consequences.
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