Why more and more people are clapping on AI friends

All over the world, artificial intelligence is penetrating from the workplace into the most intimate areas of private life. What started as productivity software is now evolving into something more personal: digital companions designed to simulate friendship, romance and emotional connection. A growing number of people no longer date other people. It’s dating software – for a monthly subscription fee.

China’s booming market for AI “friends” has been portrayed as a novelty story – a strange byproduct of generative AI and urban loneliness. But it deserves a more serious reading. High-pressure urbanized societies are fertile ground for technologies that promise free connection. The demand reflects a real human need, but meeting that need through simulation rather than reciprocity has consequences.

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