Globally, hundreds of millions of users now interact regularly with AI companions. The World Health Organization has declared loneliness a global health threat. AI companions offer an immediate, if unproven, response. In 2014, Microsoft launched Xiaoice in China, an AI companion designed not to answer questions efficiently but to sustain long, emotionally textured conversations. By […]
Author Archives: Jan Krikke
Jan Krikke is a former Japan correspondent for various media, former managing editor of Asia 2000 in Hong Kong and author of "The Predictive State: How China Rewires Governance for the AI Century (2026)."
