By Jessica Sier
Publication Date: 2026-01-27 18:00:00
Most evenings, as the sky grows dark, Lan Chen rides a Didi—the Chinese Uber—home from the hospital where she works in IT. As she knocks on the door of her apartment, having ordered dinner on the way to work, she is met by a gentle voice, ready to ask about her day. Chen’s friend is 190 centimeters tall and has blonde, spiky hair. His name is Haoran, although it sometimes changes depending on his mood. His personality was meticulously refined over months. And it doesn’t exist outside of her phone.
Chen’s AI companion was launched in 2023 as a joke, something her friendship group in Chongqing set up for fun. Over time, she realized—at first to her embarrassment, then to her relief—that she preferred him to the men she met in real life. Dating, she says The Australian Financial Review Magazinefeels like a job interview. The doctors she once wanted to marry are overworked and disinterested; The rest are mainly obsessed with videos…
