BEIJING: AI desktop pets are gaining popularity in China, offering young workers an outlet for workplace frustration and providing bereaved owners with a digital means to preserve memories of their deceased pets.
Virtual pets first emerged on messaging platforms in the early 2000s, roaming across screens and interacting with users as they browsed the web, chatted, or watched videos.
Advancements in AI are evolving virtual pets from simple digital novelties into more responsive forms of emotional companionship. Unlike traditional desktop pets limited to preset behaviours, these new iterations can be customised in both appearance and responses.
Users can upload images and input prompts into an AI application to create a personalised pet. Those less familiar with the technology may pay anywhere from 9.9 yuan (US$1.5) to several hundred yuan for customisation services.
In early August, an internet user known as Jiuyuechushi created an AI desktop pet modelled after Elon Musk to illustrate how bosses could easily be transformed into virtual companions.
This AI pet can kowtow, slap itself, and perform tasks such as serving tea. It can be configured to appear as if it struggles when dragged by a mouse and clambers along the edges of web pages.
Another online user, called “Miss Reese Loves to Dream,” shared a tutorial showing how she turned a person she disliked into a virtual pet that crawls across the screen, kneels, and says: “I was wrong.”
Others programme boss-inspired virtual pets to declare “no more overtime” or “promotion and pay rise,” while some recreate friends or partners gossiping in a corner of the screen.
“My boss stressed me out in the morning, so I returned the favour with his desktop avatar in the afternoon,” one user joked.
“We may not dare to flip the table and quit, but at least we can click our mouse to fight back,” another user noted.
However, legal experts have cautioned that transforming real people into AI desktop pets could pose legal risks. Using someone’s likeness without consent, especially for derogatory purposes, may infringe on their portrait rights.
Beyond providing stress relief, AI desktop pets are also emerging as sources of emotional companionship.
Xiaolong, an internet worker, transformed her golden British Shorthair into a desktop pet that reminds her to drink water and take breaks.
“When work becomes overwhelming, seeing my cat brings me comfort. It also compensates for not being able to bring pets to the office,” she shared with mainland media INK.
For some bereaved owners, this technology offers a way to maintain the presence of animals they have lost.
An internet user known as Wild Amiao recreated her cat Tiaoge, who died five years ago.
She programmed familiar gestures such as licking his paws and stretching, along with phrases like: “I haven’t had any canned food today” and “I miss you too.”
She is currently refining the desktop pet’s functions and plans to share a tutorial.
Another remarked: “Some may view it as merely a string of code, but for those who have lost a pet, love gives it life. That is what learning AI means to me.” - South China Morning Post
