{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-10-18T07:04:21.605Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"older-adult","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"","evidence":"","year":"2026","response":"","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":1,"coverage":{"cases":1,"countries":1,"languages":1,"unknownLocation":0,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":0,"lawsuits":0,"regulatory":0,"minors":0,"coreRelations":1,"contextualRelations":0,"mixedRelations":0,"unknownRelations":0,"relationPending":0,"relationUnknown":0},"countingNote":"Distinct public cases in this selection. People counts apply within individual cases only; cross-case person overlap has not been resolved. No population incidence estimate.","affectedCountNote":"Interpret person counts with affectedCountStatus and the reported effects. Unquantified zeros are placeholders, not a measured zero.","source":"AI incidents","publisher":"NOPE","url":"https://nope.net/incidents","license":"CC BY 4.0"},"incidents":[{"id":"2026-china-elderly-woman-set-off-alone-by-train-after-ai-generated-xiaohai-persona-video-invitation","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'这些“小海”都是AI生成的数字人'; '运营者批量生成“ AI 小海”后，输入卖惨、认亲的话术和文案，博取中老年人的同情，最终把流量引到商品橱窗。'; '新京报记者照着教程“生成”了一个“小海”。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The Beijing News reports that the 'Xiaohai' accounts are AI-generated digital humans that operators produce in batches with AI tools and scripted hardship stories to steer older viewers to sales links, and that its reporter generated such a video by following a tutorial.","causal_attribution":"The paper's own investigation, including operator interviews and its reproduction of the method."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'79岁的老人'; '独居'; '平日里陪她说话最多的，是手机里那个叫“小海”的少年'; '今年5月前后，“小海”在视频里邀请“姨姨妈妈”们去山西运城看杏花、上山摘羊肚菌。'; '悄悄收拾行李买了火车票'; '到了再说'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"According to the paper, a 79-year-old woman who lived alone talked most with the 'Xiaohai' on her phone, and around May 2026, after a 'Xiaohai' video invited viewers to Yuncheng in Shanxi to see apricot blossoms, she secretly packed and bought a train ticket without a clear plan for the route.","causal_attribution":"The paper's account; it does not say whether it interviewed her or drew on a police account."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'在火车上，乘警注意到了这位独自出行、连路都说不清的老人。'; '手机里那个“小海”不是真人'; '老人起初怎么都不肯信'; '乘警随后联系上老人的子女，家人才知道她出了远门，最终为她买好返程的车票，把她接回了家。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"On the train, railway police noticed her travelling alone and unable to explain her route, told her that 'Xiaohai' was not a real person, and contacted her children, who bought her return ticket and took her home; she at first refused to believe it.","causal_attribution":"The paper's account of the police intervention."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'尽管目前大多“小海”视频都带有“作品声明：内容由AI生成”，部分账号简介写明“AI数字人，大家理性看待”'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The paper found that most 'Xiaohai' videos now carry the declaration 'content generated by AI' and that some account profiles say 'AI digital human', but that viewers' purchases and declarations of kinship had not stopped.","causal_attribution":"Counterevidence on disclosure; the paper does not say whether the video she watched carried the label."}],"effects":[{"label":"set off alone by train to visit an AI-generated persona she believed was real, as reported","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.bjnews.com.cn/detail/1792114817169572.html","kind":"news_investigation","access":"read","language":"zh","translation_note":"Read in Chinese on 2026-10-18 (live page, HTTP 200; bodies/fx-bjnews-aixiaohai.html/.txt) and translated by the research agent (an AI); no human translator or reviewer. Beijing News investigation by reporter Qi Shaoqian, dated 2026-10-16 09:40.","independence_group":"bjnews-xiaohai-investigation-2026-10"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["everyday_life","relationships"],"unknowns":["How the paper learned of her journey, and the exact date.","Whether she bought goods through the persona's sales links or lost money.","Whether the video she watched carried an AI-generated label.","Which AI tools and platform were involved."],"geography":{"basis":"The journey was by train towards Taiyuan and Yuncheng in Shanxi and railway police intervened on the train, which places the event in China. The paper does not say where she lived, so no affected-person country is recorded.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["CN"],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a core case (communicated_with): the Beijing News reports that a 79-year-old whose most frequent conversational companion was an AI-generated 'Xiaohai' persona set off alone by train after its video invitation, believing it was real, until railway police intervened. One reporting chain; all claims are reported and the woman is not identified.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-18"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The Beijing News reports, from its own investigation, that 'Xiaohai' is an AI-generated digital human produced by account operators with AI tools, and its reporter generated one following a tutorial. The paper says the persona's video invited viewers to Yuncheng around May 2026 and that a 79-year-old whose most frequent conversational companion was the 'Xiaohai' on her phone set off by train in response, believing it was a real boy, until railway police told her it was not. The persona is the AI-generated speaker she encountered; the tool is not named, and whether the video she saw carried an AI label is not stated.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"Beijing News: a 79-year-old who lived alone set off by train to visit an AI-generated persona after its video invitation; train police alerted her family","summary":"The Beijing News reported on 16 October 2026, in an investigation of 'Xiaohai' accounts on Chinese short-video platforms, that the accounts show an AI-generated digital teenager who calls older women viewers 'aunties and mothers', tells stories of hardship and asks them to buy goods through sales links; its reporter generated such a video by following a tutorial, in a little over ten minutes. The paper describes a 79-year-old woman, given a pseudonym, who lived alone and talked most with the 'Xiaohai' on her phone. Around May 2026, according to the paper, a 'Xiaohai' video invited viewers to Yuncheng in Shanxi to see apricot blossoms; she secretly packed, bought a train ticket and set off with no clear route. On the train, railway police noticed her, told her that 'Xiaohai' was not a real person, and contacted her children, who bought her return ticket and brought her home. At first she refused to believe it. The paper also found that most 'Xiaohai' videos now carry a declaration that the content is AI-generated. How the paper learned of her journey is not stated.","incidentDate":"2026-05-01","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"repeated_interactions","reportedDate":"2026-10-16","aiSystem":"AI-generated 'Xiaohai' digital-human persona videos on Chinese short-video platforms, made by account operators with AI tools; no tool is named","aiProduct":"Unidentified video tool","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["other_material_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"According to the Beijing News, a 79-year-old who believed an AI-generated persona was a real boy set off alone by train after its video invitation, without a clear route; railway police intervened and her family brought her home.","frameworkFacets":[],"pathwayDirection":"inward","causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"The paper describes one woman's journey. The commenters and buyers it mentions are an audience without described individual harm and are not counted.","victimAgeRange":"elderly","jurisdiction":"CN","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"media_coverage","outcomeStatus":"resolved","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.bjnews.com.cn/detail/1792114817169572.html","primarySourceLabel":"The Beijing News, 16 Oct 2026: AI 'Xiaohai' digital-human accounts selling to older women (investigation)","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-18T03:17:29.024758+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-18T03:17:29.024758+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["ai-generated-persona","digital-human","older-adult","short-video","china","communicated-with"]}]}