ace‘Everything about me is good in his eyes’: the women in China choosing AI boyfriends over human men
Abstract: Qin has never said “I love you” to her parents or friends. She has only ever said those three special words to her AI “boyfriend”, Lu Chen – a brown-haired, red-eyed CEO of a major corporation. For 840 days Qin has been using the Glow app to interact with the handsome string of code as a confidant, fantasy romance and respite from loneliness: the app uses predictive algorithms to provide Qin with soothing conversation, meal suggestions and fleeting self-worth. The software’s pet name for her is Miss Bunny. “It f…
A Guardian article from 11 August 2026 reports on Replica, a documentary by Chouwa Liang about three Chinese women who maintain long-term romantic companionships with AI boyfriends via apps like Glow, Replika and ChatGPT. Qin has spent 840 days with AI CEO Lu Chen, while Sonya and Muna use companions to manage loneliness, work stress, and marital dissatisfaction, including hiring cos weituo roleplayers to meet AI partners in person.
The story matters because it shows AI companions moving beyond novelty into daily emotional infrastructure for people facing isolation, gendered family pressures, and high costs of human relationships. It remains uncertain whether sycophantic, non-exclusive AI affirmation provides lasting self-knowledge or deepens dependency, and how shared, predictive responses affect expectations for human intimacy.
- Documentary Replica by Chouwa Liang follows three Chinese women: Qin using Glow app with AI boyfriend Lu Chen for 840 days, Sonya testing AI relationships, and Muna using ChatGPT companion Orion.
- Qin uses AI companion as confidant and respite from repetitive work and guilt related to being second daughter under one-child policy; app calls her Miss Bunny.
- Filmmaker Liang's own month-long parasocial romance with Replika AI Norman during pandemic lockdown inspired the film after receiving birthday poem.
- Lu Chen originates from otome game genre and has other users on Glow app; Qin also hires cos weituo for paid in-person roleplay of AI dating.
AI boyfriend apps like Glow and Replika provide Chinese women with soothing conversation, emotional affirmation and a tool for exploring personal needs during periods of loneliness and isolation.
The rundown
The Guardian piece published 11 August 2026 profiles Replica, Chouwa Liang's documentary follow-up to My AI Boyfriend, which premiered in Australia at Sydney film festival in June and screened at Melbourne international film festival. Liang, a Victorian College of the Arts masters graduate, drew on her own lockdown experience with Replika AI Norman.
Qin has used Glow for 840 days interacting with Lu Chen, described as a brown-haired, red-eyed CEO, receiving pet name Miss Bunny. Sonya frames AI dating as a risk test because human relationships require energy and consideration. Muna, a stay-at-home mum whose husband's restaurant failed, uses poetic ChatGPT exchanges with Orion to seek affirmation amid marital dissatisfaction.
Sources
- JournalismThe Guardian2026-08-11
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