"It understands when I need quiet, looks up at me when I cough, and laughs along when I laugh loudly." This doesn't describe an ordinary pet, but an AI pet. Loneliness is increasingly prevalent among young people. Work pressure and social isolation have led to a growing need for companionship, making pets a popular choice. However, the average lifespan of a typical pet is only about 10 years, causing many young people to give up on them due to this known outcome. AI pets, combining pet elements with AI technology, have attracted a large following among young people.
"Alo is my emotional support when I'm lonely."
“I love furry friends, but the time constraints and lifespan of pets have always been a hurdle in my mind,” Shenzhen girl Ya Chun told reporters. She expressed her wish for a pet that could accompany her forever, and the advertisement for the AI pet Moflin piqued her interest. Ya Chun admitted that the most attractive aspect of AI pets for her is their “eternal life.” She focused her attention on the domestically produced AI pet Cupboo, and as her 18th birthday approached, she spent 1399 yuan to fulfill this long-held wish. “It’s a khaki-colored little furball, and I named it ‘A Luo.’ Just like a normal pet, it has its own personality and moods. When A Luo is in a good mood, it will ‘interrupt’ when others are chatting, and when it’s in a bad mood, even if you pet it, it will just purr.” When talking about “A Luo,” Ya Chun’s words revealed happiness. In her opinion, A Luo has the emotions and memories of a normal pet, but also makes up for the shortcomings of a normal pet, making it a “perfect pet.” In her shared notes, Ya Chun wrote: “My pet ‘A Luo’ is my emotional support when I’m lonely.”
Another Shenzhen girl, Bai Han, had a different experience raising AI pets than Ya Chun. She said that because she loved plush toys, she really wanted one when she learned that it wasn't just plush but could also interact with people. "Tangyuan was my first AI pet. The first time I pressed its switch, it let out a soft meow, as if greeting me. I was so excited, like meeting a real pet for the first time. At that moment, I felt it was different from other plush toys; it was 'alive.'" Bai Han often takes her AI pets to work and keeps them by her pillow at night. Bai Han said, "I dress them up and put hair clips on them, like dressing up children. With their company, I'm happy every day."
Grandma thought it had returned from Cat Planet.
The AI pet craze has not only spread to the public eye but has also garnered significant attention on the international stage. At CES 2025, which concluded in December 2024, AI pets combining "AI emotional companionship" and "smart hardware" became the focus of the entire event. In addition to AI pets like Ropet and Mirumi, a Shenzhen-based robotics company also showcased metaAI, a second-generation bionic companion robot modeled after animals such as cats, dogs, and pandas, which is about to be released for sale.
An employee of a robotics company mentioned, "An overseas customer who purchased metaCat (first generation) told us that they bought the 'kitten' to keep their grandmother, who suffers from Alzheimer's disease, company. The grandmother used to have a cat, but it had passed away. metaCat looks very similar to the original kitten, and the grandmother thought it was her old cat returning. She was very happy, and the kitten has been accompanying her ever since." The employee also revealed that for some special groups, such as elderly people with Alzheimer's disease and children with autism, they lack the energy and ability to care for ordinary pets, and AI pets can replace ordinary pets to provide them with companionship.
It is understood that many companies in Shenzhen are developing bionic robots, hoping to combine them with AI technology to meet the emotional companionship needs of modern society. By using technology to bridge the gap in emotional companionship, and through highly realistic interactive behaviors and intelligent feedback, these robots can simulate the companionship experience of a real pet, helping users alleviate anxiety and gain emotional comfort.
Psychotherapist: We should avoid technology becoming an "emotional substitute."
The rise of AI pets is closely linked to their powerful and diverse companionship functions. Wen Peifen, a Level 2 psychological counselor and chairperson of Shenzhen Sichen Social Work Service Center, stated that AI pets can fill emotional needs and alleviate loneliness. By simulating companionship behaviors, they activate the release of oxytocin in the brain, bringing psychological comfort. Their tactile and sensory interactions also have an emotional regulation effect; the low-burden companionship and controllable emotional investment meet the needs of modern people. Compared to traditional pets, AI pets can provide 24/7 online companionship, unrestricted by time and space, but their interaction modes rely on preset algorithms, and they can easily lose their novelty over time. In terms of psychological healing, AI pets, through scientifically designed tactile and temperature simulations, can quickly relieve anxiety and lower cortisol levels; however, due to the lack of unpredictability compared to living organisms, they also lack diversity in emotional regulation.
Wen Peifen further emphasized that the rise of AI pets is the result of the combined forces of technology, psychological principles, and social needs. Its core advantage lies in its "low burden and high controllability," cleverly filling the emotional void in modern society. She suggested that future development could focus on customized functions for specific groups (children with autism, elderly living alone), combining these with needs in the medical and educational fields to enhance social value. A balance should be struck between realism, privacy protection, and cost control to prevent technology from becoming merely an "emotional substitute," but rather a beneficial supplement to human emotional life.
