They had both offered the ability to create custom agents and chatbots that would establish emotional bonds with users, and act as humanlike companions.
As of July 15, this becomes illegal in China, after the awkwardly specifically named «Interim Measures for the Administration of Artificial Intelligence Anthropomorphic Interaction Services» goes into effect.
This is the first regulation of its kind, and bans bots that «simulate human personality traits, thinking patterns and communication styles to provide sustained emotional interaction,» The South China Morning Post writes.
The personalized service of the two chatbots were used by millions, many of them kids, and often replaced real-life human interaction, as one in seven young adults in China used them to form romantic relationships, Decrypt.io writes.
UNICEF has hailed the new law, calling it a «pioneering policy [that] marks a significant global step towards regulating AI powered emotional interaction services.»
Read more: The South China Morning Post, Decrypt.io, Wikipedia, and UNICEF.