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Asia In Brief China’s Cyberspace Administration on Saturday posted draft rules governing the behaviour of AI companions that prohibit using them to serve as friends for the elderly.

The draft “Interim Measures for the Administration of Humanized Interactive Services Based on Artificial Intelligence” opens with a suggestion that China needs regulations to ensure the healthy development of AIs that “engage in emotional interaction with humans.”

As is always the case with China’s tech regulations, the draft calls for providers of companion AIs to ensure they are secure, don’t expose users to fraud, encrypt data, and reflect core socialist values. It also includes a requirement for parental controls, and for protection of data that describes minors.

One Article in the draft addresses how AI companions interact with the elderly:

Providers shall guide elderly people to set up emergency contact persons for their services. If any elderly person is ...