****Trigger Warning****
This article discusses sexual violence and abuse.
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Last week, millions of people in China woke up to find their AI partner switched off.
The government had looked at how good these programs have become at simulating intimacy and decided the sophistication itself, the potential for emotional dependency and outright addiction was the danger. So it banned minors from AI companions altogether and loaded extra duties onto the platforms to stop misuse. It is one of the strongest limits any country has placed on everyday AI use. Chinese authorities are already alarmed about isolation, idleness and shrinking opportunity among their young. The rules leave the boring, useful AI alone — customer service, e…
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