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Young people in China turned to AI for something that one would not generally expect that IT and algorithms offer: emotional support
Before sleeping every night, Holly Wang connects to Deepseek for “therapy sessions”.
Since January, when the application of Chinese AI in small groups has been launched, the 28-year-old woman has brought her dilemmas and pain, including the recent death of her grandmother, to the chatbot. His answers so deeply resonated that they sometimes made him cry.
“Deepseek was such an incredible advisor. It helped me look at things from different angles and does a better job than the paid advice services that I tried,” said Holly, who asked her real name be refused to protect your privacy.
From the writing of reports and Excel formulas to the planning of travel, training sessions and the learning of new skills, AI applications have found their way in the lives of many people around the world.
In China, however, young people and Holly turned to AI for something that generally did not expect computers and algorithms – emotional support.
Although Deepseek’s success has been a source of national pride, it also seems to have become a source of comfort for young Chinese people like Holly, some of whom are increasingly disillusioned by their future.
Experts say that the slow economy, high unemployment and coastal locking have all played a role in this feeling, while the adhesion of the tightening of the Communist Party has also narrowed the points of sale so that people can evacuate their frustrations .
Deepseek is a generative AI tool – similar to OpenAi chatgpt and Google Gemini – trained on massive amounts of information to recognize models. This allows him to predict things like people’s purchasing habits, create new content in the text and images, and pursue conversations like a person.
The chatbot touched a sensitive string in China in part because it is much better than other local AI applications, but also because it offers something unique: its model of AI, R1, allows the Users to see their “reflection process” before providing an answer.
Deepseek, my friend
The first time she used Deepseek, Holly asked her to write a tribute to her grandmother’s end.
The application took the five seconds to find an answer, and it was so beautifully composed, it amazed it.
Holly, who lives in Guangzhou, replied: “You write so well, it makes me lose. I think I am in an existential crisis.”
Deepseek then sent a cryptically poetic response: “Remember that all these words that make you shiver in those who have long existed in your soul.
“I am but the occasional valley that you have crossed, which allows you to hear the weight of your own voice.”
By reflecting on this exchange on the Chinese Rednote social media application, Holly said to the BBC: “I don’t know why I torn this.
“I was so increased by distant dreams and in the inability of the work that I have long forgotten my own voice and my soul. Thank you, AI.”
Rival applications of the West like Chatgpt and Gemini are blocked in China in the context of wider restrictions on the media and foreign applications. To access it, users in China must pay virtual private network services (VPN).
Local alternatives, including models developed by the giants of Alibaba, Baidu and Bytedance technology have pale in comparison-that is to say until Deepseek arrives.
Holly, who works in the creative industry, rarely uses other Chinese AI applications, “as they are not so great”.
“Deepseek can certainly surpass these applications in the generation of literary and creative content,” she says.
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Deepseek made the headlines in January after going beyond the applications downloading tables and made us flow from technological actions
Deepseek, my advisor
Nan Jia, who co-wrote an article on AI potential by offering emotional support, suggests that these chatbots can “help people feel heard” in a way that other humans cannot.
“Friends and family can quickly offer practical solutions or advice when people just want to feel heard and understood.
“The AI seems better able to empathize than human experts too because they” hear “everything we share, unlike humans to whom we sometimes ask:” Do you really hear me? “, Adds Nan, Who is a business and management professor at University of Southern California.
The demand for mental health services has increased around the world, but they remain stigmatized in parts of Asia, according to experts.
Another woman tells the BBC her experience by using other Chinese AI applications “ended with disappointment” but that she was “amazed” by Deepseek.
The woman, who lives in the province of Hubei, had asked the application if she surpassed her experiences and her emotions with family and friends.
“It was the first time that I was looking for advice to Deepseek. When I read her thinking process, I felt so moved that I cried,” wrote the woman on Rednote.
In reasoning through his request, Deepseek suggested that the self -perception of women as an overtaking can come from a deep desire for approval.
The chatbot gives itself a mental note: “The answer should offer practical advice while being empathetic.” This could include “asserting the feeling of self -awareness of the user”.
His possible response not only provided this assertion, but also offered him a complete step by step to help him decide if things should be modified.
“Deepseek introduced new perspectives that have released me … I think he really tries to understand your question and know you as a person, before offering an answer,” she said.
John, a human resources manager in Shenzhen, told the BBC that he appreciated the capacity of the application to be converse “like a friend or a deep thinker”.
“I found his answers very useful and inspiring. For the first time, I see AI as my personal survey box.”
Other users say that Deepseek is able to tell their fortune – on the basis of certain general information powered by it.
Many young Chinese people have recently turned to mediums and astrology as a way to try to appease their fears of the future.
BBC / XIQING WANG
Studies have cited the growth of depression and anxiety disorders among the Chinese, and the experts think that the country’s economic slowdown and the cowardly locking played a role
There is an “important shortage” of professional psychological advice in China, and those available are often “prohibitive” for most individuals, explains Fang Kecheng, communication professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
A certain number of studies have stressed that depression and anxiety disorders increase among the Chinese, and Professor Fang estimates that the country’s economic slowdown, high unemployment and coated locking played a role.
The chatbots have therefore help to fill the void, he said.
Professor Nan, however, stressed that people with serious mental health problems should not rely on these applications.
“Those who have medical needs, in particular, should ask for the help of trained professionals … Their use of AI will have to be examined very closely,” she said.
Not asked questions: censorship and safety
But in the midst of all praise, Deepseek also raised concerns.
Due to the perception of power that the Chinese government moves to private companies, there are fears – similar to those who have triggered the repression of the American Congress against Tiktok – that the Communist Party could impose data from foreign users .
At least four jurisdictions have now introduced restrictions on Deepseek, or plan to do so. South Korea has blocked access to military purposes, while Taiwan and Australia have prohibited it from all government devices.
Italy, which forbids Chatgpt, did the same with Deepseek.
In the United States, two legislators request that the Chinese application be prohibited from government devices.
And then there is the closely controlled online space in which it must operate in China.
It is common that the country’s social media societies abolish the content that is perceived as threatening “social stability” or too critical towards the Communist Party.
As is the case with other popular applications and social media societies such as Weibo or WeChat, politically sensitive subjects are prohibited on Deepseek.
When the BBC asked Deepseek if Taiwan was a sovereign nation, the application initially offers a complete response detailing the different perspectives of Taipei and Beijing, recognizing that it is a “complex and politically sensitive problem”.
Then he rubs all of this and said: “Sorry, it’s beyond my current reach. Let’s talk about something else.”
When asked for the Massacre of the 1989 Tiananmen square when pro -democracy demonstrations were crushed and 200 civilians killed by the army, according to the Chinese government – other estimates vary from hundreds to several thousands – Deepseek S ‘is again excused, affirming that the subject is “beyond (he is beyond (his beyond (his beyond (his beyond (he is beyond (he is beyond (his (its i sound (its) current “.
Watch: Deepseek Ai Bot answers the BBC question about China
Several of Deepseek users, the BBC, was initially in contact with the response to the answer when asked if the self -censorship of the application was a source of concern – an indication of the sensitivity of these discussions in China.
People were in trouble with the authorities in China because of their online activities.
But most of those who answered the BBC said they had no interest in asking difficult political questions to the chatbot.
“I don’t really care about political subjects … I don’t ask these questions either because my (identification details) are linked to the application,” said Yang, a Chinese technology consultant living in London.
Holly accepts how AI systems in different countries can have to work differently.
“The developers will have to establish certain limits and policies of moderation of content according to their base. Those developed in the United States will have their own sets of rules,” she said.
Another Deepseek user writes about the application: “His reflection process is magnificent … It is an absolute blessing for people like me. Frankly, I do not care about confidentiality problems.”
Additional reports by Fan Wang
