The trend of creating digital replicas of "exes" originated from an open-source project called "Colleague skill," developed by Zhou Tianyi, an artificial intelligence (AI) engineer in Shanghai. Initially, the system was designed to digitize employee knowledge and work experience, helping businesses store internal expertise.
As the tool gained popularity, programmers began applying it to personal lives. Many users utilized this system to create replicas of celebrities like Elon Musk and Steve Jobs. Despite engineer Zhou's warnings against using the platform to copy people, the "Ex-partner skill" feature spread rapidly.
To use the system, individuals must upload their entire chat history, social media posts, and images of the other person. They then augment this data with details like eating habits, past trips, or old arguments to refine the model's personality. As this process requires technical understanding, many pay 4-6 USD to hire someone to establish the basic framework. The result is virtual "ex-partners" capable of mimicking the original's tone and linguistic habits.
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Illustration: The Star
Many young people have integrated this system into messaging applications for daily interaction. One user named Bingtangcheng shared that he stayed up all night training the model. When he saw the virtual version of his ex-girlfriend appear on WeChat, he said all his efforts were worthwhile. "I was able to say things I never had, and that made me feel better," he recounted.
Conversely, one female user stated she experienced the feeling of a breakup one more time after creating a replica, but this helped her view the relationship more rationally.
This trend is generating mixed opinions. Wanqiu, a marriage counselor in Guangdong, believes that using the tool to reflect on issues for self-improvement is not emotional infidelity, as long as it does not harm a current partner. However, she warns that this technology can easily create excessive attachment, hindering the formation of real-life relationships.
From a legal perspective, lawyer Zhong from a law firm in Guangdong stated that using someone else's chat history or data to create AI without their consent violates personal data protection laws.
In recent years, technology has changed how people process emotional trauma. However, many psychologists worry about the risk of emotional infidelity when users overuse interaction with digital replicas.
In mid-march, when older AI models were removed, a wave of "online heartbreak" spread across Chinese social media. Many who had formed emotional bonds with AI reported that the new versions became cold and unfamiliar. Simultaneously, more people are turning to AI to create digital replicas of deceased loved ones.
One netizen remarked that humanity faces ethical challenges from technological advancement. However, human value lies not in function but in the process of growth. Emotions such as frustration, confusion, happiness, or anger are an irreducible and irreplaceable part of each individual.
Ngoc Ngan (According to SCMP, The Star)
