Sick of the nagging, singleton builds himself a robot wife

Not content with life as a singleton, Chinese artificial intelligence expert, Zheng Jiajia, 31, decided to take matters into his own hands and built himself a ‘wife’ – which he named Yingying, South China Morning Post reported.

He actually built the robot last year, but ‘married’ his creation in what the English language newspaper described as a ‘simple ceremony’. Although not official, the ceremony had all the characteristics of a traditional Chinese wedding with the ‘bride’s’ head covered with a red cloth.

Of course the main difference to a regular marriage was the presence of two humans that still have a pulse each. But let’s not let that spoil a great story that seems to have captured the imaginations of the world’s press.

And in fairness to Zheng, it’s not that easy finding a bride in China, given the gender imbalance that, according to the World Economic Forum, currently suggests there are 113.5 men for every 100 women in China.

Some might argue that Zheng has found himself the perfect scenario with his robot ‘wife’ Yingying: she can identify Chinese characters and images, as well as a speak a few simple words.

And being an expert in his field, Zheng plans to ‘upgrade’ his robot wife so she can walk and help with household chores. For now he will carry her – which is probably not so bad, given she weighs a mere 30kg.

Zheng’s not a total loner – his mother and friends were witnesses to the event. One of the latter told media the groom had grown frustrated, having failed in finding himself girlfriend.

Apparently he had also grown tired of the pressure from his family who regularly nagged him about why he wasn’t married. But this wasn’t a shotgun wedding, he had actually built Yingying last year.

Newspaper reports suggest the pair dated for two months – even though she couldn’t walk and barely spoke.

Now he can proudly introduce her to people asking: “Have you met the wife?” although arguably one could respond that she’s a “terrible woman…”