“苦命男孩小海”被央视曝光！“姨姨妈妈”在直播间心疼的那个苦命男孩，可能根本不存在......

Xiao Hai, the name given to a batch of AI-generated boys on Chinese short-video platforms, has triggered a public backlash and scrutiny over the emotional manipulation of elderly viewers.

In May, railway police in Urumqi found a 79-year-old woman traveling alone, anxious and unable to state her destination clearly. Illiterate, she told police she was going to Yuncheng, Shanxi province, to visit a "relative", a hard-luck child who called her "auntie" every day on her phone. 

Police persuaded her to get off the train, and she returned home on a ticket her family bought.

The videos follow a melodramatic formula. In one, a tearful boy says his classmates have gone to eat while he hides in a classroom with steamed bread, then claims he has bought a meat bun for his "auntie". 

而在另一段带货视频里，“小海”摇身一变，又成了最懂老人心的“贴心晚辈”，开始推荐阿胶。

In another, the same persona pivots to selling ejiao (donkey-hide gelatin), a traditional Chinese health product, to elderly women.

如今，为了唤醒沉迷“AI小海”的长辈，一群年轻网友开始用AI造“恶小海”，有人让小海穿着囚服、抓着铁栏“道歉”；有人让他抽烟、喝酒、大把数钱，炫耀自己从“姨姨妈妈”那里赚了多少钱。

更多网友甚至不做视频，直接在评论区接梗演戏，用夸张、离谱的留言，戳破这场苦情戏的荒诞。

Younger internet users have begun fighting back with parody. Some create "evil Xiao Hai" clips in which the character wears prison clothes and apologizes from behind bars, or smokes, drinks, and flaunts cash while boasting about how much money he has extracted from his audience. Others mock the genre in comment sections with exaggerated, absurd storylines.

专家：恶意编造故事博取同情卖货

已涉嫌构成欺诈

北京航空航天大学法学院副教授赵精武指出，躲在代码背后操纵数字人卖惨带货的主体，只要恶意编造故事博取同情卖货，就已涉嫌构成欺诈。

Zhao Jingwu, an associate professor at Beihang University's Law School, said operators who fabricate stories to win sympathy and sell goods are suspected of fraud. 

An "AI-generated" label does not mean elderly victims should be blamed for negligence, he said. The label only describes the production method. Given the content and sales purpose, and the targeting of emotionally isolated older people, the conduct can be deemed deceptive. He added that the account or livestream operator is primarily responsible.

为什么在年轻人眼里一眼就能看穿的粗糙AI合成影像，一些老年用户完全看不出来，甚至像那位79岁的老人一样千里迢迢去寻人？

北京大学政府管理学院教授马亮认为，表面上看这是老年人的数字素养差距，但深层的根源在于社会中不容忽视的“情感空巢”问题。不少老年人线下生活是相对孤独的，也没有有效的陪伴，于是便可能通过数字世界的消费去满足自己的精神需求。

这也意味着相关的社会工作、社区治理部门应该跟进，更多地为老年人提供线下关怀，加强对AI应用的指导，避免上当受骗。

Ma Liang, a professor at Peking University's School of Government, said the issue is not only a digital-literacy gap but also "emotional empty nests". Many older people are lonely offline and lack effective companionship, so they may turn to digital consumption to meet emotional needs. 

Community and social-work departments should provide more offline care and guidance on AI applications, he said.

除了操盘账号的黑灰产和商家，短视频平台在其中扮演的角色同样备受质疑。相同的苦情话术、高度雷同的数字人面孔、高频挂载的商品链接，为什么总能精准找到老年用户？

对此，马亮认为，面对批量制造的坑老视频，平台的责任绝不能止步于给视频打个标签，或者等网友举报了再去封号。

你刷到过“AI小海”吗？