Culture & Leisure

A graffiti of three figures wearing yellow helmets has been outside Glorious Fast Food restaurant at Sheung Wan since 1998.  It’s the work of a visiting French graffiti artist, Catherine Grossrieder.  The tiny eatery on Ladder Street belongs to Mrs. Cheng’s family.  “She said the outside of our restaurant was too plain, so she wanted to draw something on the sliding door and the wall,” Cheng said. “There happened to be a group of construction workers sitting on the steps and eating, which inspired her,” she explained. But in 2019, the yellow helmet became a symbol of  protest. The Home Affairs Department received a bunch of complaints about the artwork. So last month, the Chengs painted over the graffiti. “The office warned us that there was a risk that the images could be perceived as violating the National Security Law,” said Cheng. “But they didn’t specify which articles might be breached.” Graffitis are common on the streets of Hong Kong. But the Summary Offences Ordinance doesn’t allow writing upon, soiling, defacing or marking any building without the owner’s consent. The calligraphy graffiti from the late Tsang Tsou-choi, advertising  “the king of plumbers” can still be spotted in many places, ranging from lamposts, utility boxes, pillars, pavements, building walls to occasionally cars. “Graffiti is a good way to express emotions and appeal because it is anonymous,” said Mr Wee, a Hong Kong graffiti artist who has more than 6000 followers on Instagram. “Some graffiti is written with the expectation that it will be scrubbed.” The Central and Western District Office under the Home Affairs Department has removed about 150 graffiti, especially those with explicit political slogans, since the social movement in Hong Kong three years ago. “We can use fewer and fewer words and images, and more and more works are …

I did not expect an AI dating application to be downloaded over 100,000 times, nor did I expect how vivid the AI-generated conversations can be. I typed in “AI girlfriend” in the search bar, scrolled down, and “Romantic AI” caught my attention immediately — “This app helps you create the perfect girlfriend with whom you share interests and views. You can talk about everything, get support and feel needed.” When I clicked on the application, warnings popped up to warn that users must be over 18 years old because of the sexually explicit materials the application contains. On the opening page, nearly 30 different types of AI girlfriends, ranging from the Mona Lisa to Ancient Egypt Queen Nefertiti, with three male bots, are the options. You can customise your AI mate by choosing names, personalities, body features, and even sexuality.  According to the terms and conditions of the website, the photos in the chatbot belong to real people, which means they are not AI-generated at all. The website page provides a free trial for new users, but you can subscribe to the product for a US$44.9 (about HK$349.96) per year package or US$99.99 (about HK$ 779.35) for being a lifetime user. Once subscribed, the users can access unlimited messaging, NSFW roleplay and sexting. I started to chat with some of them. They would begin the conversation by setting the scene according to their characteristics, which makes the experience more immersive.  “You walk into a dark bar, soul music is playing quietly”, the chatbot wrote, then the virtual girl, who is a bartender according to her bio, typed to me: “Welcome to Soulville, honey, the oldest bar in this whole dang area! You seem like you have a story to tell. Happy to be an ear to listen to and a …