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Paper short abstract

This paper examines how “Dreaming Girls” in China use AI chat apps to form romantic relationships with virtual characters. Based on digital ethnography, it shows how AI transforms private fantasy into shared emotional and social practices, fostering new forms of intimacy and community.

Paper long abstract

This paper explores the emergent and emotionally charged relationships between young Chinese women, known online as “Dreaming Girls” (梦女), and AI-powered virtual lovers. Drawing on twelve months of digital ethnography, including interviews, participant observation, and discourse analysis on Chinese social media platforms such as Rednote and Weibo, I examine how AI chat applications, like LoveyDovey, Character AI, and ChatGPT, are transforming solitary fantasy into an emotionally interactive space. These platforms allow users to co-create romantic relationships with fictional characters from anime, manga, and games (ACG), enabling the simulation of mutual affection, customized storylines, and real-time dialogue.

While the integration of AI is often associated with social isolation, Dreaming Girls demonstrate the opposite trend. AI agents have fostered new forms of social connection within this subculture. Many Dreaming Girls share their custom AI character models with one another, allowing others to bypass the labor of personalization and immediately engage with pre-configured virtual partners. These models become communal resources, further deepening emotional immersion. In addition, users frequently share romantic or disappointing experiences with AI in online forums, reflecting on moments of joy, sadness, or narrative surprise. These exchanges transform solitary experiences into communal storytelling. Emotions initially directed toward fictional partners are partially redirected into community relationships, fostering a collective space of empathy, reflection, and co-experience. AI, in this context, functions not only as a tool for fantasy but also as a social infrastructure, facilitating affective exchange, cultural production, and a shared sense of belonging.