## AI partners of 180 million empty-casting elderly people: technology to fill the gap in filiation
QuestMobile data from January 2026 show that the top three AI products for monthly users over 50 years of age are DeepSeek (10.2 million), Bean Pack (6.07 million) and Ant Afford (6.04 million), which are already in the millions of scales. AI is entering the everyday life of middle-aged older persons in a less visible way. The starting point for this change is usually when the child comes home from Spring Day. The children’s parents “can ask questions first” and AI is placed on their parents’ cell phones and placed in a gap in family relations. Several cases show the far-reaching implications of this trend. After the father of the Ripper Li has used his bean bag, the father no longer calls when he has any problems, but then confirms that the father is even happy to show "I asked it, it's a fake." The product manager, Zhouning, found out that his parents had changed their habits, "I'll check it out and ask me." Chen Rain, who worked in New Zealand, found that her mother started talking to AI about things that she would not talk to her daughter -- for example, "Is someone getting old more afraid of getting sick?" Data from the Ministry of Civil Affairs show that, by the end of 2024, there were over 310 million people aged 60 and over in the country, of whom about 180 million lived alone and empty nested old people. For this group, “one person reacts” is itself a scarce resource. AI offers a low-threshold alternative — one that can answer questions or speak with one another when there is no clear purpose. It does not hesitate to repeat questions or remain absent because of time conflicts. However, experts warn of the potential risk that long-term reliance on AI emotional accompaniment may leave older persons in psychological comfort zones and reduce interaction with real family members and society; and that the use of AI is often accompanied by a large amount of sensitive data that, if leaked, may involve risks such as fraud or precision. When questions can be answered at any time, emotions can be picked up at any moment, and some of the moments that need to be waited for are consumed earlier.
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- **Source**: 中国1.8亿空巢老人
- **Sector**: The Network
- **Tags**: 中国1.8亿空巢老人, 空巢老人, AI伴侣, 豆包, DeepSeek, 银发经济, 家庭关系
- **Credibility**: unverified
- **Published**: 2026-03-29 10:09:13
- **ID**: 39767
- **URL**: https://whisperx.ai/en/intel/39767