A case in China has drawn attention after an 84-year-old woman developed a strong emotional attachment to an AI-generated character she believed was her partner.
Zhang Yulan, from central China’s Hubei province, became attached to a virtual figure known as a “bossy president”, a popular romantic character type often portrayed as dominant yet caring.
According to a report by the South China Morning Post, one such character, named Jianguo, captured her attention. Over time, Yulan began to treat him as a real companion.
Yulan spent long hours each day watching videos featuring Jianguo and similar digital personalities on a short video platform.
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Virtual love turns costly:
Her attachment went beyond viewing. In February, she handwrote a love letter to the AI character, apologising for “hurting” him and asking if he still cared for her.
{{/usCountry}}Her attachment went beyond viewing. In February, she handwrote a love letter to the AI character, apologising for “hurting” him and asking if he still cared for her.
{{/usCountry}}She described feeling emotional pain after what she believed was a disagreement between them.
In her letter, Yulan expressed admiration for his assertive personality, while also noting concerns about communication in their “relationship”. She wrote that she believed mutual understanding was important, showing how real the connection felt to her.
Her family only became aware of the situation after noticing unusual spending. Yulan had spent more than 7,000 yuan (around $1,000) through an online shop linked to the character.
She also paid inflated amounts for low-cost items on other e-commerce platforms. In March, after she spent another 1,200 yuan on books recommended by the character, her granddaughter reported the account to a consumer complaint system.
Authorities had earlier shut down the account as part of a campaign targeting online misconduct, but similar profiles continued to appear.
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Growing fears over AI scams:
Professor Chen Xu, who studies the ageing population at Wuhan University, said the case shows the emotional needs of many older people, especially their desire for companionship and respect.
Online observers warn that AI can be misused to exploit such vulnerabilities, and urge families to spend more time with elderly relatives to help protect them from similar situations.
“AI has become a handy tool for scammers,” said one online observer.
“We need to accompany our elderly family more, so that they would not fall into such traps so easily,” said another.