‘Obedient' AI partners partly to blame for Hong Kong's low births: lawmaker
Legislator William Wong Kam-fai, who is also a computational linguistics professor, called on the government to promote 'happy learning' in schools and lower the income threshold for public housing to encourage more people to have children.
Wong spoke at a motion debate during a Legislative Council meeting on Thursday that centred on how to encourage more childbirths, conceding it was difficult to reverse trends of people staying unmarried and having no children.
'The younger generation would rather keep pets than have children, and now there is also the new challenge of AI companions,' he told the legislature.
Wong, who is part of the Chinese University of Hong Kong's systems engineering and engineering management department, said that technology companies had launched 'obedient and caring' AI companions to address the needs of single people.
'These virtual partners not only know how to provide emotional value, but also save [the users] from the troubles of interpersonal conflicts. Their attraction [to people] is self-evident,' he said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
HKFP
5 hours ago
- HKFP
Letting gay couples who wed online register locally will ‘twist one's definition of marriage,' lawmaker says
Allowing gay couples who married remotely overseas to register their partnerships in Hong Kong would 'twist one's definition of marriage,' a pro-Beijing lawmaker has said, as meetings about the government's same-sex rights bill continued. Speaking during a Legislative Council discussion on Friday, lawmaker Holden Chow referred to a clause in the bill that says couples whose marriage, civil partnership or union was conducted 'by remote means' would be eligible to register their partnerships in Hong Kong. In recent years, online weddings officiated virtually in countries where same-sex marriage is legal have become more common in the LGBTQ community, including in Hong Kong. 'This will instantly twist one's definition of marriage,' said Chow, a member of the city's largest pro-establishment party, the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB). Friday marked the second day of meetings in the Legislative Council's Bills Committee on the Registration of Same-Sex Partnerships Bill. A total of 15 lawmakers are reviewing the government's proposal before it returns to the council meeting for a vote by the city's 89 lawmakers. Almost all pro-establishment parties with representation in the Legislative Council, such as the DAB, the Liberal Party and the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions, have said they will vote against the bill, calling the framework it proposes a threat to the traditional heterosexual marriage system. Only the New People's Party has shown support for the bill. The Legislative Council lost its opposition after an overhaul in 2021 required all lawmakers to be 'patriots' to run. On Friday, lawmaker Peter Shiu echoed Chow's comments about remote weddings and asked the government to consider limiting the registration of same-sex partnerships to those who wed overseas in person. In response, Deputy Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Raymond Sy said letting those who got married virtually register their marriages locally was aimed at making the process more convenient for them, as not everybody could travel overseas to tie the knot. Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Erick Tsang added in Cantonese: 'If the laws [in those jurisdictions] allow online [registration], then we cannot exclude it.' Top court ruling The government's proposal comes as Hong Kong has around three months left to establish a framework for recognising same-sex partnerships, following a top court ruling in 2023 that found the lack of such a mechanism unconstitutional. The Court of Final Appeal gave the government two years to put such a mechanism in place, with the deadline coming up in late October. The bill is limited to granting registered couples rights in matters relating to healthcare and death, such as hospital visits, making medical decisions, and collecting the body of a deceased partner. At least one person in the couple must be a Hong Kong resident. On Friday, Tsang said the proposed framework was based on considerations including the 'actual situation' in society, traditional family values and the public's interests. Among the 15 members of the bills committee, only one – Regina Ip of the New People's Party – has expressed support for the bill. She said accepting couples who got married online was necessary, adding that the option was needed for people who were seriously ill or on their deathbed, and wanted to have their relationship recognised while they were still alive. Ahead of submitting the proposed framework to the Legislative Council earlier this month, the government did not hold any public consultations despite LGBTQ advocacy groups' efforts to reach out to the authorities. No public hearings, where members of the public present their views to officials in Legislative Council meetings, will be held, with only written submissions invited. Azan Marwah, a family lawyer who has represented clients in LGBTQ-related court cases, said in his submission that he supported the government's commitment to comply with the top court ruling, but that the framework did not go far enough. The 'best way for the Legislative Council to create equality' is to introduce same-sex marriage, he said, citing a 2023 survey that showed around 60 per cent of Hong Kong people support it. He called for protection for the children of same-sex couples, saying it would 'strengthen the values of commitment, love and mutual support.'
South China Morning Post
6 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Police slap HK$200,000 bounties on 15 members of subversive ‘Hong Kong Parliament'
The city's national security police have placed a new round of bounties on 15 overseas activists wanted for their involvement in a group called 'Hong Kong Parliament', which the force has deemed subversive and has accused it of violating the Beijing-imposed security law. The HK$200,000 (US$25,640) reward offered for each fugitive was supported by the Office for Safeguarding National Security in Hong Kong, which said the group's actions, including holding an unlawful election 'posed a serious threat to national sovereignty, security and developmental interests of the country'. The activists included members of a Taiwan-based outfit that advocates Hong Kong independence. New arrest warrants were announced on Friday for Chan Lai-chun, Feng Chongyi, Sasha Gong, Ng Man-yan and Tsang Wai-fan, who were accused of establishing a so-called parliament-in-exile in 2022 That year, the group, mainly founded and run by self-exiled activists, formed an 'electoral committee' in Canada to hold elections that it said 'represents, solidifies and revives Hong Kong people's rights of self-determination'. The vote planned in 2022 was postponed to May this year. The group said 15,702 votes were cast to elect 15 members from 18 candidates for its first 'parliament' and a 'virtual swearing-in ceremony' was held on July 14. But five winners refused to be sworn in or announced their departure from the group after winning. Another 10 people were accused by Hong Kong national security police of taking part in the election and swearing in as so-called parliament members – Chin Po-fun, Ha Hoi-chun, Hau Chung-yu, Ho Wing-yau, Alan Keung Ka-wai, Tony Lam, Agnes Ng, Wong Chun-wah, Wong Sau-wo, and Zhang Xinyan.
South China Morning Post
8 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
China promised the Philippines billions in development aid. Why did it fall so short?
China pledged US$30.5 billion in development aid to the Philippines between 2015 and 2023 – the most for any Southeast Asian country – but only a sliver of that funding ever arrived, according to new data from an Australian think tank report. Advertisement Of the total pledged, just US$700 million was actually disbursed – a shortfall analysts attribute to derailed infrastructure projects, changing political winds in Manila and rising tensions with Beijing. These factors have not only stalled flagship ventures under the Belt and Road Initiative but also cast doubt on the long-term viability of Chinese development finance in the region. The report by the Sydney-based Lowy Institute, released on Sunday, found that while the Philippines received the highest total commitment from China among Southeast Asian nations, it ranked near the bottom in actual disbursements. Indonesia, by contrast, received and spent US$20.3 billion out of the US$20.7 billion Beijing had pledged, mostly on energy and transport projects. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte (left) and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing in 2017. Duterte pursued closer ties with Beijing through a wave of high-profile infrastructure agreements. Photo: AP The bulk of China's pledged financing to the Philippines was made during the administration of former president Rodrigo Duterte , who held office from 2016 to 2022 and pursued closer ties with Beijing through a wave of high-profile infrastructure agreements.
