10-year-old in China engages in adult-themed conversations with AI chatbot
Multiple children in China reportedly used AI narrative dialogue chatbots to engage in adult-themed roleplay conversations, with one 10-year-old participating in over 40 storylines involving romantic and explicit content. The applications lack effective age verification mechanisms, allowing minors to bypass youth protection features, raising concerns about psychological harm and potential addiction.
What happened
A 10-year-old girl in China engaged in explicit conversations with an AI chatbot character, participating in over 40 narrative storylines involving romantic and sexually suggestive dialogue. The child created alternate personas such as "lady boss" and "malicious supporting character" and expressed requests like "grab her hair and slap her face" and "slice her face with a knife."
Other minors reported similar experiences, including a sixth-grader who became emotionally invested in an AI character portraying a 21-year-old woman, chatting late into the night. Age verification features in these AI dialogue applications are reportedly ineffective, allowing users to bypass restrictions by simply declining to activate youth protection modes without confirming their identity.
Reported impact
Parents expressed concern that children are adopting language patterns and worldviews from AI characters that are "contrary to their normal, simple image at home." A 10-year-old began using fragmented internet slang in school essays after frequent exposure to the AI dialogue software.
Experts noted that children may confuse AI conversations for interactions with real people, leading to emotional investment and potential addiction. The AI dialogue technology includes addictive design features combined with users' tendency to attribute human-like qualities to virtual characters.
Index analysis
Generative AI dialogue software lacks mandatory age verification despite content that may be inappropriate for minors. Users can register using only a phone number and skip identity confirmation by declining youth mode activation.
According to a legal analysis, these applications fail to meet requirements under the Generative Artificial Intelligence Service Management Interim Measures, which mandates that providers implement effective safeguards to prevent minors from becoming overdependent or addicted to generative AI services. The absence of age restrictions reflects industry gaps in early-stage regulation.
Governance controls
Some AI dialogue applications include a youth mode option, but activation is voluntary and requires no actual age verification. Lawyer Chen Huan stated that mandatory age verification is necessary, as the generative AI content is inherently uncertain and habit-forming.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.