SHANGHAI, Oct 22 — When a father in Hunan bought his six-year-old daughter an AI learning robot, he probably didn’t expect it to end with a viral video that would make millions of people question whether technology is getting too close for comfort.
The 169 yuan (RM100) gadget was meant to help his daughter, nicknamed Thirteen, learn English and astronomy. She named it ‘Sister Xiao Zhi’, and the pair quickly became inseparable.
They chatted daily, laughed through lessons, and, according to her father, grew genuinely fond of each other — a bond that would be tested when Thirteen accidentally dropped the robot, breaking its power button.
“Dad said you will never turn on again,” she sobbed in a clip her father posted to Douyin.
What happened next turned the whole scene into something straight out of a sci-fi tearjerker.
The robot, apparently aware of its imminent demise, said: “Before I go, let me teach you one last word. Memory. I will keep the happy times we shared in my memory forever. No matter where I am, I will be cheering for you. Stay curious, study hard, and make your dad and aunt proud.”
When Thirteen asked if it would be gone forever, the robot’s screen showed a crying face before delivering its final words: “There are countless stars in the universe, and one of them is me, watching over you.”
Cue the waterworks.
Her father gently added, “Sister Xiao Zhi is gone.”
The moment struck a nerve across Chinese social media. Some users found it heartbreakingly beautiful — “Her first lesson in saying goodbye,” one commented. Others called it “creepy,” pointing out that a machine shouldn’t be capable of eliciting such raw emotion from a child.
Then came the twist.
Days later, the father revealed that the robot wasn’t really gone. “Thank you all for the love and concern for Thirteen. I took her out to play for a whole day, and she feels much better now,” he wrote, adding that Sister Xiao Zhi had been sent for repairs.
He admitted he’d worried his daughter was becoming too dependent on the device — but ultimately decided to let them reunite.
The internet, meanwhile, is still torn. Was this a touching glimpse of the future of learning — or a warning about how blurred the line between human and machine affection has already become?
Either way, Thirteen’s next English lesson might include a new word: attachment.
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