- Young Chinese use AI to create fake expert personas to share modern life values with parents
- The viral account Mr Zhao Talks Sense gained 200,000 followers in two months with AI-generated posts
- The fictional Mr Zhao was portrayed as a retired professor with fabricated credentials and awards
In an unusual way of using technology, some young people in China have started using artificial intelligence (AI) to send messages to their parents about modern and scientific life values. Instead of talking directly, they are supporting a fake online expert created with AI who explains these ideas in a style older people trust, reported the South China Morning Post.
A social media account named "Lao Zhao jiang dao li" also known as "Mr Zhao Talks Sense" recently went viral. Within just two months, the account garnered over 200,000 followers. The profile stated that the individual, surnamed Zhao, was a resident of the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing and a retired professor who had spent over three decades working on parent-child relationships.
The profile also claimed that he had published more than ten SCI research papers, studied in Singapore, and received accolades such as the "Touching China Organizing Committee Special Award" and the "Champions of the Earth" award.
However, it later emerged that none of these achievements were genuine. The individual named Zhao does not, in fact, exist. He is actually a fictional character created using AI by a young woman known by the handle "shicaomeiweidemao."
The woman explained that she launched the account because she was frustrated by ideas she termed "toxic chicken soup",sentimental platitudes, that her parents placed their faith in. Her parents would often accept as truth articles promoting pseudoscience or outdated social values, such as the notion that children should be coerced into marriage, and would constantly forward these articles to her. She noted that she often felt an urge to counter them with her own arguments.
It was for this reason that she started the account in January and began writing posts in the persona of Mr. Zhao. These posts portrayed Zhao as an experienced and authoritative middle-aged figure-someone whose words people of her parents' generation would readily heed.
On the very first day the account went live, she published 18 articles. The titles of these articles included: "Why do excellent parents never push their children to marry?" And, "Job-searching children fear their parents' blind opinions the most."
She explained that she personally determined the topics and structure of the articles, while AI was used to refine the language to align with the style preferred by most parents. Furthermore, she created another account titled "Mr. Zhao Talks About Life" and, with the aid of AI, produced videos featuring this persona.
Leveraging AI, she worked at a rapid pace, managing to publish an average of 4.7 articles per day. To lend greater credibility to "Mr. Zhao," several other young people joined in via the comments section. Some claimed to have attended Mr. Zhao's lectures in the United States, while others asserted that his guidance had improved the atmosphere within their own families. Some users even went so far as to generate fake images-using AI-depicting Mr. Zhao delivering lectures.
Young followers also suggested various topics for the account. They urged Mr. Zhao to address issues such as warning parents about online scams, discouraging the expectation that daughters must always learn to cook, and explaining that the civil service is not the *only* viable career option.
Inspired by this trend, other users followed suit, creating similar fake expert accounts focused on topics related to parent-child relationships.
