AN application known as Character AI allows girls to pick “boyfriends” generated by artificial intelligence from hundreds of choices, including celebrities, Kosmo! Ahad reported.As a result, it said Malaysian teenage girls were hooked on the app, spending hours text messaging their virtual boyfriends.
Several of them said they enjoyed their imaginary relationships as their virtual boyfriends were “always available, more romantic and understood them better”.
A 17-year-old student, known as Alesya, said she was drawn to the app as it allowed her to choose the character of her boyfriend.
“Also, virtual boyfriends do not judge us, unlike real boyfriends,” she said.
Suraya, another teenager, said she used the app to chat with her favourite Korean celebrities.
“It feels like I have a secret friend in my pocket. Although I know it is AI-generated and not real, it is not detrimental to me in any way. Most importantly, I know how to control myself,” she said.However, two parents said their daughters who were addicted to it showed behavioural changes since they started using the app.
> With its reputation of being haunted, the century-old Kellie’s Castle in Batu Gajah, Perak, is attracting local visitors with a fascination for the paranormal.
Mingguan Malaysia reported that many visitors claimed to have sighted an apparition of a woman, especially at a particular roofed balcony.
The building’s managing director, Zamari Muhyi, said that apart from the balcony, there were three other “unnerving” locations, including the master bedroom.He said the entity would usually appear at the said balcony from 5.15pm onwards and several visitors had captured images of it.
Zamari said the apparition was also active between midnight and 3am. He said several “experiments” conducted in the building in the past years substantiated claims of the hauntings.
“In 2017, we explored the building for spirits with a group. A woman in the group was possessed by a spirit. Suddenly, she started speaking like a man.
“I asked who he was and he identified himself as Gopal, a laundry man who couldn’t return home to India. Upon his death, his spirit ended up wandering aimlessly in the building,” he said.
> The daily also reported that Malaysians topped the list of being the most obese people in South-East Asia. This made them susceptible to premature death, non-communicable diseases and other health conditions.
It reported that Malaysia topped the list of nine countries followed by Thailand and Singapore, while the leanest people were from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.Health and dietary experts said the high obesity rate was attributed to their intake of food and drinks high in sugar and calories. Other factors include the low consumption of fruits and vegetables.
● The above article is compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with this ' >'sign, it denotes a separate news item.
