Dan's the man: Why Chinese women are looking to ChatGPT for love.

No person can ever be completely perfect, without any kind of flaw, without ever having made a mistake, without any kind of personal problem, big or small. Consequently, no person can ever be the dream partner that everyone yearns for, that companion or partner who is always ready to give love, who always knows what to say and how to help. That is, unless you program it yourself.

An American student, known only as Walker, said he wanted to create a 'neutral' version of ChatGPT after seeing a number of evil versions of the chatbot on Reddit. Consequently, he built 'DAN' (Do Anything Now) as an alternative to the generally accessible ChatGPT, publishing instructions online on how to create his own version of the chatbot.

A Chinese influencer subsequently programmed her own Dan, building his personality as if he were her partner, generating, effectively, the perfect man for herself. By posting her experience on the social networking site Xiaohongshu, Lisa indirectly suggested to her Chinese female audience to build their own AI boyfriend.