'Better than a real man': young Chinese women turn to AI boyfriends

Wang Xiuting showing her virtual boyfriend, an artificial intelligence chatbot, on Wantalk, created by Chinese tech company Baidu. - AFP

BEIJING: Twenty-five-year-old Chinese office worker Tufei says her boyfriend has everything she could ask for in a romantic partner: he's kind, empathetic, and sometimes they talk for hours.

Except he isn't real.