内容摘要："Your imagination is huge and you can lay in bed and travel to all sorts of places and think about things whereas you can't do them," she said.

"Your imagination is huge and you can lay in bed and travel to all sorts of places and think about things whereas you can't do them," she said.

"I've got this encouraging external voice going – 'right - what are we going to do [today]?' Like an imaginary friend, essentially."For months, Kelly spent up to three hours a day speaking to online "chatbots" created using artificial intelligence (AI), exchanging hundreds of messages.

At the time, Kelly was on a waiting list for traditional NHS talking therapy to discuss issues with anxiety, low self-esteem and a relationship breakdown.She says interacting with chatbots on character.ai got her through a really dark period, as they gave her coping strategies and were available for 24 hours a day."I'm not from an openly emotional family - if you had a problem, you just got on with it.

"The fact that this is not a real person is so much easier to handle."People around the world have shared their private thoughts and experiences with AI chatbots, even though they are widely acknowledged as inferior to seeking professional advice. Character.ai itself tells its users: "This is an AI chatbot and not a real person. Treat everything it says as fiction. What is said should not be relied upon as fact or advice."

But in extreme examples chatbots have been accused of giving harmful advice.

Character.ai is currently the subject of legal action from a mother whose 14-year-old son took his own life after reportedly becoming obsessed with one of its AI characters. According to transcripts of their chats in court filings he discussed ending his life with the chatbot. In a final conversation he told the chatbot he was "coming home" - and it allegedly encouraged him to do so "as soon as possible".Her speech went viral on the Chinese internet, with some saying it moved them to tears. However, others said her elite background is not representative of Chinese students.

In the US, some have flagged her alleged links with the Chinese Communist Party.In their efforts to restrict Harvard from enrolling foreign students, US authorities had accused the institution of "co-ordinating with the Chinese Communist Party".

Ms Jiang, who studied international development, was the first Chinese woman to speak at a Harvard graduation ceremony.In her address, Ms Jiang emphasised the value of Harvard's international classrooms, noting how that taught her and her classmates to "dance through each other's traditions" and "carry the weight of each other's worlds".