In China, there are 30-35 million more men than women and Chinese women have five lovers to choose from.
Love and Deep Space is the first 3D otome video game, originating from China, and has garnered its share of female western players. The player stars as a female protagonist with their choice of one of five androgynous male characters as romantic partners. While the game has a central quest and the typical gacha elements (in-game purchases of virtual items), players can collect photos of themselves with their AR boyfriends in real-world environments.
This past January over 790,000 users played, down to about 475,000 this month, the majority being women aged 18-34, mainly of Chinese demographic.
But what is driving young women to pursue companionship with virtual characters instead of IRL men?
AI characters offer emotional rather than physical interaction. The facts on the ground in China are exacerbating the difference between the genders.
The dynamics resulting from the male-female disparity in China are increased opportunities for educated urban women, rural males having consequently less choice, and the lingering effects of the COVID-19 shutdown, something much more severe than Westerners encountered, resulting in widespread loneliness.
In China, there is a saying that “hand machines” (phones) create ghosts — or suck out your soul. People are known to charge their phones three or more times a day. The addiction breeds more loneliness.
We might look to Japan as the place where tech trends originate (sometimes passing through South Korea to China).
In that country, the AI toy Kirobo is used to keep the elderly company. It has its uses, but at what cost? The machine is family now.
AI, phones, robots, all artificial, all taking the human away.
The CCP’s “Land of Infinite Hope” vision for 2035 (always a lot of plans), where the party aims for more AI automation in factory labor, households, and government services, has the potential to make unemployment and loneliness much worse. Artificial lovers seem a harbinger of what is to come.