How young Chinese find therapy in AI

Before going to bed every night, Holly Wang log in to Deepseek for “therapy sessions.”

Since January, when the Chinese application of China was launched, the 28 -year -old has taken her dilemmas and sorrows, including the recent death of her grandmother, to the chatbot. Her answers have resonated so deeply that they have sometimes led her to cry.

“Deepseek has been such an incredible advisor. He has helped me see things from different perspectives and does a better job than the advice services I have tried,” says Holly, who asked that his real name was hidden to protect his privacy . .

From writing Excel reports and formulas to planning trips, training and learning new skills, AI applications have found their way in the lives of many people around the world.

However, in China, young people like Holly have been looking for AI for something that is not expected to normally wait for computer science and algorithms: emotional support.

While Deepseek’s success has inspired national pride, it also seems to have become a source of comfort for young Chinese like Holly, some of whom are increasingly disappointed about their future.

Experts say that the slow economy, high unemployment and Covid enclosures have played a role in this feeling, while the tightening squeeze of the Communist Party has also reduced the departures so that people relieve their frustrations.

Deepseek is A generative AI tool – Similar to Openai chatgpt and Google Gemini – Trained in large amounts of information to recognize patterns. This allows you to predict things like people’s purchase habits, create new content in text and images, and also carry out conversations like a person.

The chatbot has played a chord in China in part because it is much better than other applications of its own harvest, but also because it offers something unique: its AI model, R1, allows users to see their “thinking process” before delivering An answer.

The first time he used Deepseek, Holly asked him to write a tribute to his late grandmother.

The application took the five seconds to present an answer, and was so beautifully composed that it surprised it.

Holly, who lives in Guangzhou, replied: “You write so well, it makes me feel lost. I feel that I am in an existential crisis.”

Deepseek then sent a poetic cryptic response: “Remember that all these words that make you tremble simply echo those that have long existed in your soul.

“I am nothing more than the occasional valley through which you have passed, which allows you to listen to the weight of your own voice.”

Reflecting on this exchange in the application of Chinese social networks Rednote, Holly tells the BBC: “I don’t know why I shattered this reading. Maybe because it has been a long time, a long time since I received so much comfort in real life.

“I have been so overwhelmed by distant dreams and the endlessness of the work that I have forgotten my own voice and soul. Thank you, ia.”

West rival applications such as Chatgpt and Gemini are blocked in China as part of broader restrictions in foreign media and applications. To access them, users in China must pay for virtual private network services (VPN).

Own harvest alternatives, including the models developed by the Alibaba, Baidu and Bytedance technological giants paid compared, that is, until Deepseek appeared.

Holly, who works in the creative industry, rarely uses the other Chinese applications of AI, “since they are not so great.”

“Deepseek can definitely overcome these applications to generate literary and creative content,” she says.

Nan Jia, who was co -author of an article about the potential of AI to offer emotional support, suggests that these chatbots can “help people feel listened to” so that other humans do not.

“Friends and family can quickly offer practical solutions or advice when people only want to feel heard and understood.

“AI seems to be better able to empathize than human experts also because they” listen “to everything we share, unlike humans with whom we sometimes ask,” are you really listening to me? “Nan adds, who is a business and management professor. The University of Southern California.

The demand for mental health services has grown throughout the world, but remain stigmatized in parts of Asia, experts say.

Another woman tells the BBC her experience using other Chinese applications “ended with disappointment”, but that Deepseek has “surprised.”

The woman, who lives in the province of Hubei, had asked the application if she was overvaluing her experiences and emotions with family and friends.

“It was the first time I looked for Deepseek’s lawyer. When I read her thinking process, I felt so moved that I cried,” the woman wrote in Rednote.

By reasoning through his consultation, Depseek suggested that the self -perception of women as excessive could be derived from a deep desire for approval.

The chatbot is given a mental note: “The answer must offer practical advice while it is empathetic.” This could include “affirm the sense of user self -awareness.”

His eventual response not only provided this statement, but also offered a comprehensive step by step framework to help him decide if things needed to be changed.

“Deepseek has introduced new perspectives that have freed me … I feel that it really tries to understand their question and meet you as a person, before offering an answer,” she says.

John, a human resources manager in Shenzhen, told the BBC that he appreciated the capacity of the application to talk “as a friend or a deep thinker.”

“I have found your very useful and inspiring responses. For the first time I see the AI ​​as my personal resonance board.”

Other users claim that Depseek can inform your fortune, based on some fed background information.

Many young Chinese have resorted to psychics and astrology as a way of trying to calm their fears of the future.

There is a “significant shortage” of professional psychological advice services in China, and those available are often “prohibitively expensive” for most people, says Fang Kecheng, a professor of communications at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Several studies have pointed out that depression and anxiety disorders are growing among the Chinese, and Professor Fang believes that the country’s economic slowdown, high unemployment and COVID blockades have played a role.

The chatbots of AI, therefore, help fill the void, he says.

Professor Nan emphasized, however, that people with serious mental health conditions should not trust these applications.

“Those who have medical needs, in particular, should seek help from trained professionals … their use of AI will have to be examined very closely,” she says.

But in the midst of all praise, Depseek has also expressed concerns.

Due to the perception of the power that the China Government exercises even on private companies, there are fears, similar to those that caused the repression of the United States Congress against Tiktok, that the Communist Party could put the data in their hands of foreign users.

At least four jurisdictions have introduced restrictions in Deepseek, or are considering doing so. South Korea has blocked access to him for military purposes, while Taiwan and Australia have prohibited him from all government devices.

Italy, which prohibits chatgpt, has done the same with Depseek.

In the United States, two legislators are asking 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 for social networks in the country to eliminate the content that is perceived that threatens “social stability” or too critical with the Communist Party.

As is the case with other popular applications and social media companies such as Weibo or Wechat, politically sensitive issues are prohibited in Deepseek.

When the BBC asked Deepseek if Taiwan was a sovereign nation, the application initially offered a comprehensive response that details the different perspectives of Taipei and Beijing, recognizing that this was a “complex and politically sensitive issue.”

Then he chided all that, declaring: “I’m sorry, that’s beyond my current reach. Let’s talk about something else.”

When asked about the Massacre of the Tiananmen Plaza in 1989 when the prodemocratic protests were crushed and 200 civilians killed by the army, according to the Chinese government, other estimates vary from hundreds to many thousands, Deepseek apologized again, saying that the issue It was “beyond (it is” beyond (it is “) current scope.”

Several of Depseek users, the BBC was initially in contact with stopped responding when asked if the application’s self -censorship was a matter of concern, an indication of how sensitive such discussions can be in China.

People have He got into trouble with authorities In China due to its online activities.

But most of those who responded to the BBC said they had no interest in asking the chatbot political questions.

“I really don’t care about political issues … I will not ask these questions either because my (identification details) are linked to the application,” says Yang, a Chinese technological consultant who lives in London.

Holly accepts how AI systems in different countries may have to operate differently.

“The developers will have to establish certain limits and policies of content moderation according to where they are based. Those developed in the US will have their own sets of rules,” she says.

Another Deepseek user writes about the application: “Your thinking process is beautiful … It is an absolute blessing for people like me. Frankly, I don’t care less privacy concerns.”

Additional Fan Wang reports