Batched 'AI Small Seas' accounts recently emerged on mainland short video platforms, using AI-generated virtual personas with fabricated tragic life stories to gain the sympathy of middle-aged and elderly women, subsequently engaging in high-priced product promotions. These scams leverage AI-driven script auto-generation, with some isolated elders falling for the ruse and even traveling far to 'find relatives' in other provinces.
Background
This script is fully auto-generated by AI, and such 'emotional pig hunts' are not the first of their kind. A year ago, 'AI Wáng Jiànguó' accounts in formal attire and full of sweet words became popular, targeting middle-aged and elderly women by calling them 'aunties'. After authorities stepped up efforts to combat the misuse of AI technology and shut down related accounts, operators shifted their focus, pushing the son 'Xiao Hai' from the script to the forefront, continuing to harvest the same group of 'aunties'.
According to investigations, currently on the platform, 'Small Seas' accounts using the same teenager's face and highly similar scripts have an average of 10,000 followers and have reached 600 million topic playback views. The persona of 'Xiao Hai' in the videos is uniformly a neat and clever young university student, often crying to the elders on the screen after losing a competition, being hospitalized, or being bullied by classmates, then naturally asking for orders on items like cooking oil and collagen. Many elderly netizens in their 60s and 70s are moved by sympathy, commenting 'love you mom', 'Xiao Hai is amazing' and paying willingly. Even an 79-year-old single elderly woman, believing it to be true, packed her bags and traveled across provinces to 'find relatives' in Shicianshui, Shanxi, only to realize she was deceived when stopped by railway police.
Experts analyze that many widowed, empty-nest, or single elderly individuals, struggling with unmet emotional needs, are prone to converting psychological defenses into emotional dependencies, equating virtual 'feelings of being needed' with real emotions, making them more susceptible to such emotional manipulation. Legal professionals emphasize that although the videos are marked as 'AI-generated', operators are guilty of civil fraud by fabricating life stories to guide elderly individuals into high-priced purchases; larger amounts involved could potentially constitute fraud charges. Short video platforms that knowingly continue to push such 'emotional fraud' through algorithms also bear corresponding management and legal risks.