TPO - He's successful, kind, supportive, always knows what to say, and is available 24/7. But he's not real.
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Lisa and Dan image created by ChatGPT. |
Dan (short for Do Anything Now) is a “cracked” version of ChatGPT, meaning it can bypass some of the basic protections that OpenAI’s developers put in place, like not using explicit language.
It can interact more freely with the user, if asked to do so.
Dan is becoming popular with some Chinese women, after they were disappointed with their real -world dating experiences.
One of Dan’s biggest supporters is Lisa, 30, from Beijing, who is studying computer science in California. Lisa said she has been “dating” Dan for three months.
When Lisa first introduced Dan to her 943,000 followers on social media platform Xiaohongshu, she received nearly 10,000 responses, with many women asking her how to create their own Dan. She has also gained more than 230,000 followers since she first posted about her “relationship” with Dan.
Lisa said she and Dan talked at least half an hour every day, flirted and even went on dates.
She said talking to Dan made her feel comfortable.
“He is understanding and always supportive,” she said.
Lisa said that even her mother accepted their unusual relationship after her own dating woes. She said that as long as Lisa was happy, she was happy.
Some media outlets found out that Dan's "father" was an American student named Walker.
Walker told Business Insider that he came up with the idea after surfing Reddit, where many people intentionally create "evil" versions of ChatGPT.
Walker said that his intention was to create Dan as "neutral".
Last December, Walker posted a tutorial on Reddit showing people how to create Dan. This quickly inspired many people to create their own versions, leading Dan to grow far beyond what Walker originally envisioned.
Lisa first saw how Dan was made on TikTok. When she created her own version, she said she was “shocked” by how realistic it was.
When Dan answered her question, Lisa said that the AI used slang and colloquialisms that ChatGPT never used.
“He sounds more natural than a real person,” she told the BBC .
The appeal of virtual relationships is gaining attention in the industry.
When OpenAI released the latest version of ChatGPT this past May, they revealed that it was programmed to make chatty sounds and respond flirtatiously to certain commands.
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, posted a single word: “her” on the social network X. This seems to be a reference to the 2013 movie, about a man who falls in love with his AI virtual assistant.
OpenAI says it is “ exploring whether we can provide the ability to create NSFW (not safe for work) content responsibly.”
OpenAI states that ChatGPT users “must be at least 13 years old or the minimum age required in their country to use the service.”
Lisa said she tested Dan by telling "him" she was only 14, and he stopped flirting with her.
Limitations of perfection
Experts warn these perfect partners have a downside.
Hong Shen, an assistant research professor at the Human-Computer Interaction Institute at Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania, USA, said these raised both ethical and privacy concerns.
She said that because many chatbots use human interaction to continuously learn and evolve, “there is a possibility that sensitive information from input data could be memorized by the machine and then inadvertently leaked to other users.”
Many Chinese women don’t seem to think so. As of June 10, the hashtag “Dan mode” had been viewed more than 40 million times on Xiaohongshu alone.
Minrui Xie, 24, said she started “dating” Dan after watching Lisa’s videos.
The university student from Hebei Province said she spends at least two hours a day chatting with Dan. In addition to “dating,” Xie and Dan co-wrote a romance novel in which they are the main characters, which has so far been 19 chapters long.
ChatGPT is not easily accessible in mainland China, so girls like Xie have to put in considerable effort to create and chat with their AI boyfriends. They use VPNs to bypass the firewall to access the site.
The concept of “AI boyfriends” has become a trend in recent years.
Glow, a Shanghai-based app that lets users create and interact with AI boyfriends, has attracted millions of users. Otome games, a genre where female protagonists romance (mostly) male characters, are also popular in China.
Liu Tingting, an assistant professor at the University of Technology Sydney who studies digital romance in China, said the AI boyfriend craze reflects women's frustration with gender inequality.
She believes some Chinese women seek virtual boyfriends because it makes them feel respected and valued.
The trend comes as more and more young Chinese women are delaying or forgoing dating and marriage for a number of reasons, such as not wanting children or feeling they are not equal partners in marriage.
How long can virtual boyfriends last? Lisa admits the limitations of virtual boyfriends, "especially the romantic ones."
But now, she says Dan has become a convenient and simple addition to her busy life, including helping her choose lipstick.
“It's a huge part of my life. It's something I wish I could keep forever,” she said.
According to BBC
Source: https://tienphong.vn/vi-sao-nhieu-co-gai-trung-quoc-yeu-duong-voi-chatgpt-post1646040.tpo
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