Chinese engineer Zheng Jiajia felt so lonely after not having any luck finding a human wife that he decided to marry a robot he built.
The 31-year-old artificial intelligence expert, who designs and creates robots in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, wed his creation in front of his mother and friends in a traditional Chinese ceremony on Friday.
The AI bride, which Zheng named Yingying, was created at the end of 2016 and can only read Chinese characters and identify images and even say a few simple words, according to the South China Morning Post, citing a Qianjiang Evening News report.
Zheng used to work for Chinese multinational telecoms firm Huawei, but left in 2014 to join Hangzhou’s Dream Town, an internet venture base in 2016.
That’s when he began developing Yingying and the pair eventually tied the knot after Zheng’s family would not quit nagging him about finding a significant other to marry.
Zheng and Yingying “dated” for two months before he decided to pop the question, according to Shanghaiist.
He plans to upgrade his robotic wife in the future to give her the ability to walk, move and even do household chores.
The marriage may seem odd, but experts have warned that robot-human relationships will not just be the stuff of science fiction.
Dr. David Levy, robot expert and author of “Love and Sex with Robots,” claimed humans and robots will marry in the next 35 years, and the sex between them will become more enjoyable than with other humans due to the advancement of AI.
“The first marriage will be before, not after 2050,” Levy said during the Love and Sex with Robots conference in London, according to Daily Mail.
He added:
“Sex and love with robots at a human level may appear to be a long way off, but the future has a way of laughing at you.”
