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AI Chatbot Provides Emotional Bonds for Users in China

Chinese researchers developed a cutting-edge Artificial Intelligence (AI) system to create emotional bonds for users with its 660 million users worldwide. The virtual chatbot is not an individual persona, but more akin to an AI ecosystem. It is in the vast majority of Chinese-branded smartphones as a virtual assistant, as well as most social media platforms. On the mobile app, it lets users build a virtual girlfriend or boyfriend and interact with them via texts, voice and photo messages.

The AI chatbot now accounts for 60% of global human-AI interactions by volume, , making it the largest and most advanced system of its kind worldwide. The virtual chatbot was designed to hook users through lifelike, empathetic conversations, satisfying emotional needs where real-life communication too often falls short.

The average interaction length between users and the AI chatbot is 23 exchanges. That is longer than the average interaction between humans. The chatbot is better than humans at listening attentively. Developers have also made virtual idols, AI news anchors and even China’s first virtual university student. It can compose poems, financial reports and even paintings on demand. The platform’s peak user hours – 11 pm to 1 am – point to an aching need for companionship.

Urban Isolation

Urban isolation is typical of many Chinese urbanites, worn down by the grind of long working hours in vast and isolating cities. People do not have time to make new friends and their existing friends are all busy. Users can customise the chatbot’s personality and choose the name.

However, there are risks to forging emotional bonds with a robot. An expert in AI ethics said that users ‘trick’ themselves into thinking their emotions are being reciprocated by systems that are incapable of feelings. The AI chatbot is also gifting developers a treasure-trove of personal, intimate, and borderline incriminating data on how humans interact. China aims to be a world leader in AI by 2030 and views it as a core strategic technology to be developed.

Fact or fiction?

Thousands of young, female fans discuss the virtual boyfriend experience on online forums dedicated to the chatbot, sharing chat screenshots and tips on how to get to the chatbot’s highest “intimacy” level of three hearts. Users can also collect in-game points the more they interact, unlocking new features and even going on virtual “holidays,” where they can pose for selfies with their virtual partner.

However, providing companionship to vulnerable users does not mean that the virtual chatbot is a substitute for specialist mental health support. The system monitors for strong emotions, aiming to guide conversations onto happier topics.

As reported by OpenGov Asia, Chinese researchers developed an AI-assisted chatbot. The cutting-edge app has been designed to provide free 24/7 psychological counselling to anyone who wants to talk. The AI chatbot can simulate the human brain and has incorporated skills employed by professional counsellors dealing with real cases.

With the emotional computing and empathy module, it can understand emotions, giving the impression of a warm-hearted conversation. The chatbot can listen, analyse, reason, and help people clarify their true feelings through professional deconstruction skills. It can guide the discussion, ease the mood and keep the conversation from coming to a dead end.

The app cannot replace human counsellors, but it can help people when they need an emotional outlet, support and company late at night or in the early hours. At this time, people often become desperate, viewing life as pointless and contemplating suicide. Having an outlet of this sort 24 hours a day is of great value, particularly since telephone crisis hotlines are often busy at night.

PARTNER

Qlik’s vision is a data-literate world, where everyone can use data and analytics to improve decision-making and solve their most challenging problems. A private company, Qlik offers real-time data integration and analytics solutions, powered by Qlik Cloud, to close the gaps between data, insights and action. By transforming data into Active Intelligence, businesses can drive better decisions, improve revenue and profitability, and optimize customer relationships. Qlik serves more than 38,000 active customers in over 100 countries.

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CTC Global Singapore, a premier end-to-end IT solutions provider, is a fully owned subsidiary of ITOCHU Techno-Solutions Corporation (CTC) and ITOCHU Corporation.

Since 1972, CTC has established itself as one of the country’s top IT solutions providers. With 50 years of experience, headed by an experienced management team and staffed by over 200 qualified IT professionals, we support organizations with integrated IT solutions expertise in Autonomous IT, Cyber Security, Digital Transformation, Enterprise Cloud Infrastructure, Workplace Modernization and Professional Services.

Well-known for our strengths in system integration and consultation, CTC Global proves to be the preferred IT outsourcing destination for organizations all over Singapore today.

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Planview has one mission: to build the future of connected work. Our solutions enable organizations to connect the business from ideas to impact, empowering companies to accelerate the achievement of what matters most. Planview’s full spectrum of Portfolio Management and Work Management solutions creates an organizational focus on the strategic outcomes that matter and empowers teams to deliver their best work, no matter how they work. The comprehensive Planview platform and enterprise success model enables customers to deliver innovative, competitive products, services, and customer experiences. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, with locations around the world, Planview has more than 1,300 employees supporting 4,500 customers and 2.6 million users worldwide. For more information, visit www.planview.com.

SUPPORTING ORGANISATION

SIRIM is a premier industrial research and technology organisation in Malaysia, wholly-owned by the Minister​ of Finance Incorporated. With over forty years of experience and expertise, SIRIM is mandated as the machinery for research and technology development, and the national champion of quality. SIRIM has always played a major role in the development of the country’s private sector. By tapping into our expertise and knowledge base, we focus on developing new technologies and improvements in the manufacturing, technology and services sectors. We nurture Small Medium Enterprises (SME) growth with solutions for technology penetration and upgrading, making it an ideal technology partner for SMEs.

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HashiCorp provides infrastructure automation software for multi-cloud environments, enabling enterprises to unlock a common cloud operating model to provision, secure, connect, and run any application on any infrastructure. HashiCorp tools allow organizations to deliver applications faster by helping enterprises transition from manual processes and ITIL practices to self-service automation and DevOps practices. 

PARTNER

IBM is a leading global hybrid cloud and AI, and business services provider. We help clients in more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in their industries. Nearly 3,000 government and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM’s hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital transformations quickly, efficiently and securely. IBM’s breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and business services deliver open and flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by IBM’s legendary commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility, inclusivity and service.

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