Smooching smarts: China woman turns to AI to satisfy demanding boss during candlelight birthday dinner with boyfriend

In Guangzhou, a city in southeastern China, a woman named Li was celebrating her birthday with her long-distance boyfriend. They were enjoying a candlelight dinner, complete with fine food and a movie. However, their romantic evening was interrupted by a barrage of messages from Li's boss. He was demanding that she draft a proposal for a lipstick promotion. Despite her frustration, Li was resourceful. She turned to artificial intelligence (AI) software and instructed it to create an outline for the lipstick promotion. The AI quickly generated a detailed plan, which Li forwarded to her boss without making any changes. This allowed her to return to her birthday dinner. This incident, which was captured in a viral video, resonated with many people in China who have experienced similar work intrusions. Some online observers expressed outrage at the expectation of working late into the night. Others suggested that it was time to set boundaries for bosses. There were also those who praised AI technology for its potential to reform the workplace. In a similar incident in September, a young man was asked by his boss to work overtime while attending a concert. Without a laptop, he also resorted to AI software to draft a proposal. He sent it to his boss and then turned off his phone. Chinese labor laws prohibit employers from forcing employees to work overtime without additional pay. However, the reality is that the pressure to secure and maintain jobs often leads to unpaid overtime. To address this issue, a tech worker in Shenzhen, another city in southeastern China, developed several AI-aided tools in April. One of these inventions is an 'anti-overtime bracelet' that locks a person's fingers during holidays, effectively preventing them from typing and working excessively.