A former Huawei engineer from China has "married" a robot named Yingying that he built himself last year. The robot, which weighs 30 kilograms, can read some Chinese characters and speak a few words, but the AI engineer plans to upgrade her to be able to walk and do household chores.
According to a friend, Zheng Jiajia, 31, decided to commit to the robot after failing to find a human spouse. In statements to Qianjiang Evening News, his friend added that Zheng had also become tired of the nagging from his family and pressure to get married. So he turned to a robot he had built late last year and named her Yingying.
After two months of successful "dating," he wore a black suit to "marry" her at a ceremony, which was attended by his mother and friends in the eastern city of Hangzhou. Although it is not officially recognized, the ceremony was held in accordance with the Chinese tradition, with Yingying's head covered with a red cloth.
China has one of the worst gender gaps in the world, which is mainly due to sex-selective abortions people started practicing after the introduction of the country's widely criticized one-child policy. For every 100 women in China, there are 113.5 men, according to the latest report by the World Economic Forum. The gender imbalance, coupled with the changing attitude towards marriage among the country's middle class, means no marriages for many men in future.
The news of the union has received mixed reactions from people, with some social media users mocking Zheng and others wondering if it is a publicity stunt.
"You won't have her mother looking down on you, you don't have the pressure to buy a home, and you get to save money and energy," one user wrote on WeChat, a popular social network. "He'll slowly get old, his face will become wrinkled and his hair will grow white - but will he upgrade her to grow old, or just to be prettier?" another user asked.
Stories of robots replacing humans are common in China, most notably in restaurants where waiters are automated. However, the machines rarely live up to expectations.
Zheng previously worked at Huawei, the Chinese smartphone company, before quitting to focus on an artificial intelligence startup.