{"id":924,"date":"2026-07-15T19:47:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T19:47:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/longhaulmovingpros.com\/?p=924"},"modified":"2026-07-15T19:47:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T19:47:16","slug":"chinas-war-on-lying-flat-comes-for-companion-chatbots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/longhaulmovingpros.com\/?p=924","title":{"rendered":"China\u2019s War on \u2018Lying Flat\u2019 Comes for Companion Chatbots"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The film Her<\/em> would be significantly shorter in China, because the moment Theodore Twombly started to have feelings for the Scarlett Johansson-voiced AI named Samantha, the cord would get pulled out, Joaquin Phoenix\u2019s character would be assigned a girlfriend, and they would live happily ever after. Starting Wednesday, a new set of regulations goes into effect in China to shut down chatbots that may facilitate unhealthy emotional attachments among those who communicate with them.<\/p>\n

Read more DC Passes Bill to Ban Surveillance Pricing for Concert Tickets, Cap Resale Prices<\/a><\/p>\n

The rules, issued by the Cyberspace Administration of China, are specifically aimed at \u201ccompanion\u201d chatbots. It outright bans such bots for minors and issues new restrictions that prohibit any chatbot that might be \u201cexcessively catering to users, inducing emotional dependence or addiction, and damaging users\u2019 real interpersonal relationships.\u201d It will also require platforms to label AI-generated content and remind users they are speaking with a chatbot, not a real person.<\/p>\n

The rule comes as young people in China are growing increasingly connected to AI companions. According to a report published by the Tencent Research Institute earlier this year, more than 70% of Chinese netizens between the ages of 18 and 40 have \u201cdeveloped a dependence on AI,\u201d and nearly 80% said they have at some point felt that \u201cAI understands me.\u201d More than half of the respondents said they used AI for emotional companionship.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

That\u2019s not great! And whether it\u2019s intentional or not, it is hard to deny the idea that chatbots create a connection by being sycophantic and reaffirming, sometimes to dangerous degrees. It is a form of manipulation that can ultimately lead to people becoming addicted. They also don\u2019t actually fill the hole in a lonely person\u2019s heart\u2014in fact, they can make it worse.<\/p>\n

Read more Withings\u2019 New Smart Scale Zaps the Sweat Glands in Your Feet for Signs of Trouble<\/a><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

It\u2019s probably ultimately for the best to disrupt those types of potentially harmful connections before they start, but it\u2019s not obvious that China\u2019s approach will work. A recent paper suggested that constant reminders that a person is talking to a chatbot can be distressing when they are seeking an emotional connection. And just flipping the off switch on these things is unfortunately unlikely to make most people seek out human connection as an alternative.<\/p>\n

China hasn\u2019t had much luck in recent years trying to regulate away socially isolating behaviors through these types of levers. Back in 2021, the country tried to place a three-hour-per-week cap on video game usage for minors. It mostly failed, as kids found ways around it and showed no health improvements as a result of the restrictions. The country has grown increasingly paranoid about the online behavior of its citizenry, attempting last year to impose a two-month ban on pessimism being expressed online.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

The country fears that its young generation is increasingly \u201clying flat\u201c\u2014basically, giving up on the grind and embracing a low-impact lifestyle. Accounts that have promoted that type of life have been banned on Chinese social media sites. At this rate, we could see China try to make the joke policy of Zohran Mamdani issuing bisexual girlfriends to all New Yorkers into a reality.<\/p>\n

Read more Geekom A9 Max (2026) Review: Not Much \u2018Max\u2019 About It<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Authorities have seen what this behavior does to a person, and they don’t like it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":923,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-924","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artificial-intelligence"],"yoast_head":"\nChina\u2019s War on \u2018Lying Flat\u2019 Comes for Companion Chatbots - Long Haul Moving Pros<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/longhaulmovingpros.com\/?p=924\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"China\u2019s War on \u2018Lying Flat\u2019 Comes for Companion Chatbots - Long Haul Moving Pros\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Authorities have seen what this behavior does to a person, and they don't like it.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/longhaulmovingpros.com\/?p=924\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Long Haul Moving Pros\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-15T19:47:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/longhaulmovingpros.com\\\/?p=924#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/longhaulmovingpros.com\\\/?p=924\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/longhaulmovingpros.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ed9c8f732aec56889e8fd0602fe5af4b\"},\"headline\":\"China\u2019s War on \u2018Lying Flat\u2019 Comes for Companion Chatbots\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-15T19:47:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/longhaulmovingpros.com\\\/?p=924\"},\"wordCount\":559,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/longhaulmovingpros.com\\\/?p=924#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/longhaulmovingpros.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/2eca4f9202e2b2483f647a4be204a200.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Artificial Intelligence\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/longhaulmovingpros.com\\\/?p=924#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/longhaulmovingpros.com\\\/?p=924\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/longhaulmovingpros.com\\\/?p=924\",\"name\":\"China\u2019s War on \u2018Lying Flat\u2019 Comes for Companion Chatbots - 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