Open AI-Romance with ChatGPT, Ready for Your Cyborg Lover?

Since late March 2024, a Chinese college student has shared her AI Romance with ChatGPT on Red, a popular Chinese social media platform, attracting millions of followers and sparking numerous imitations. This phenomenon has created an iconic figure among Chinese youth, particularly females. This study employs a case study and digital ethnography approach seeking to understand how technology (social media, generative AI) shapes Chinese female students' engagement with AI Romance and how AI Romance impacts the reshaping of gender power relations of Chinese female college students. There are three main findings. First, Open AI Romance is performative, mutually shaping, and creates flexible gender power dynamics and potential new configurations. Second, the cyborg lover identity is fluid, shared, and partially private due to technology and social platforms. Third, the rise of ChatGPT's DAN mode on Red introduces a simulated "male" app into a "female" platform, pushing the limits of policy guidelines, and social norms, making the platform even "wilder." This research provides a deeper understanding of the intersection between technology and social behavior, highlighting the role of AI and social media in evolving gender dynamics among Chinese youth. It sheds light on the performative nature of digital interactions and the potential for technology to redefine traditional gender power structures.