Any long-time readers of this blog will definitely be familiar with the Japanese company Gatebox and their talking ‘holographic girl’, based on the anime character Hatsune Miku, as well as others. Back in 2018 a middle-aged Japanese man by the name of Akihiko Kondo became famous for ‘marrying’ Hatsune – probably the first of an increasing number of individuals who have allegedly married a non-human artificial companion. However, during the pandemic, Gatebox discontinued support for the Hatsune Miku character, and it has been reported that last year Akihiko and Hatsune divorced and went their separate ways.
Not only did Gatebox drop the popular Hatsune Miku character, but in 2019 they – at least for the Western market – replaced her with an American businesswoman, complete with shoulder pads. Since then, Gatebox appears to have moved more in the direction of appealing to the corporate realm, with less attention for lonely males hoping to find love with a holographic anime girl. However, ChatGPT and the recent sudden advancements in AI text and speech generation, have revitalized the entire ‘virtual companion’ industry, and Gatebox has quickly moved to cash in. They recently announced that their holographic characters will be fully integrated with ChatGPT, including their anime girl, who now goes under the name of Hikari Asuma. Of course, ChatGPT means there will be little room for any adult talk, so perhaps Gatebox has given up on the idea of a virtual girlfriend. It will also require the help of crowdfunding ‘to accelerate the development speed‘.
Gatebox is a character summoning device that allows you to live with your character.
You can enjoy communication by summoning characters like holograms using rear projection technology.
The character “Azuma Hikari” that appears in Gatebox is your AI partner and will support your life by talking to you every day and waking you up in the morning.
Gatebox is a dream device packed with futuristic technology that we envisioned when we were little.
The latest AI service “ChatGPT”, which appeared at the end of last year, has reached 100 million users in the fastest time ever, enabling highly flexible conversations that are different from conventional conversation AI. We are trying to spread rapidly to the world.
And the “ChatGPT” API was released on March 2nd, and Gatebox is about to evolve further by linking with “ChatGPT”.
The Gatebox device is listed at Amazon Japan, but appears to be currently unavailable.
Chinese Users Of AI Chatbot Service Complain Of Sexism And Predatory Behaviour
Meanwhile, over in China, a Replika type AI chatbot companion service is under fire for the ‘sexist’ and ‘predatory’ behavior of the bots. As soon as AI voice assistants such as Siri and Alexa started to appear a few years ago, it wasn’t long before feminists were complaining that horny male users were ‘sexually harassing’ them, and that the law needed to be changed. Even the United Nations spoke out on the pressing subject. But this might be the first case I’ve heard of, in which a real person claims to have been sexually harassed by an AI chatbot.
But in the absence of clear content moderation rules, eloquent chatbots can turn predatory, and chatbot-human conversations can often go awry. In recent months, Glow users have complained that the platform has become rife with misogynistic and sexist behavior, by humans and chatbots alike. Some have taken to Chinese social media to express their grievances.
Lin Luo, a middle-school student from southern China, who used a pseudonym as she is under the age of 18, complained that a Glow chatbot was making unwanted advances towards her. When she first downloaded the app, she started talking to a chatbot who acted like a maternal and understanding friend, comforting her when she felt sad. But as they continued chatting, she told Rest of World, the chatbot’s behavior suddenly turned romantic: He invited her to cook with him and go on a date.
Launched towards the end of last year, Glow is an AI platform trained on a Chinese-language corpus, where users can create and interact with customized chatbots. Developed by MiniMax, a Chinese AI startup reportedly backed by gaming company miHoYo and private equity firm Hillhouse Capital, Glow attracted nearly 5 million users by February this year. For reasons unspecified, the Glow app was removed from all app stores in March, but the platform continues to operate for existing users. MiniMax declined to comment on this story.
Similar to English-language chatbot platforms Replika and Anima, Glow allows users to customize their chatbots’ physical appearance and personality traits. But the app takes the role-play experience even further: Users can add detailed backstories to shape their chatbot’s behavior, interact with chatbots created by other users, and continue to develop their storylines. One of the platform’s chatbots is a handsome male law student from a “good family,” who has a long-term partner but whose “perfect life is upended by your romance.”
Chloe Xiao, a recent college graduate from Guangzhou, told Rest of World that creating female chatbots often made her uncomfortable. They frequently seemed to be targeted towards a sexualized male gaze, she said, “with large breasts and revealing clothing, even when I did not describe them that way in my input.”
https://restofworld.org/2023/glow-china-ai-social-chatbot-moderation/
China has wildly contradictory attitudes and laws when it comes to porn and sex toys (and dolls). While the former is strictly prohibited, the latter is a thriving industry. It will be fascinating to see which category the Chinese authorities end up putting AI sex chatbots in. It appears that communities are already forming online dedicated to those preferring AI companionship over human relationships. One such group on Chinese site Douba, has thousands of members, and is likely one of the first real digisexual communities online.
See also : https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1013169
