Soul App, a Chinese AI social platform, has been exploring how AI can support online interaction by helping users express themselves more comfortably and move more easily into real conversations.
Exploring the Role of AI in Modern Social Platforms
In an April 13 interview with Oriental Financial Pudong Channel, host Jin Tianwei spoke with Tao Ming, CTO of Soul App. Their conversation focused on a question many social platforms now face. As large AI models become part of everyday digital life, how should AI serve social interaction without weakening real connections between people?
Since its launch in 2016, Soul App has focused on younger users and on the emotional value people seek in social settings. Tao noted that although different cohorts of young users may have different habits, interests, and ways of expressing themselves, the need to be understood and supported remains steady.
How AI Became Part of Soul’s Social Experience
AI became part of Soul’s product system well before the current wave of large models. Social interaction often depends on whether a person can find the right words, respond comfortably, and receive positive feedback. Tao said the platform began using AI-related technologies in 2017 to improve matching, recommendations, and how users build connections. Around 2019, Soul began exploring how generative AI could support users who may not feel confident expressing themselves.
Throughout the interview, Tao emphasized that Soul App’s focus remains on helping users move toward real connections. AI should support the social setting rather than pull users away from it.
AI Features Designed to Encourage Participation
That idea now appears in several product scenarios on Soul App. In audio partyrooms, AI hosts, AI roles, and AI-supported interactions can help keep group conversations active. These features are designed to make participation easier, especially in multi-user settings where some people may prefer a lighter way to enter the conversation before speaking more directly.
Soul’s interactive partner Jiang Yu offers one example. During the interview, the host spoke with Jiang Yu by phone and noted that the exchange felt natural and close to a real conversation. Tao explained that the character was designed with a natural tone and a clear role in the user experience. For users who are sensitive to social feedback or hesitant to begin conversations, an interactive partner can provide a lower-pressure space to practice expression.
The Shift Toward Shared Social Spaces
Soul was once more centered on one-to-one matching and conversation. Today, users spend a large share of their time in shared social spaces, including audio rooms, groups, gamified interaction, and interest-based communities. They can enter different scenarios built around daily life, learning, hobbies, and long-tail interests.
Safety also becomes more important as AI interaction feels more natural. Tao said Soul’s AI models are self-developed, allowing the company to align large-model capabilities with its existing safety, risk-control, and user-protection systems. The platform uses testing mechanisms, including red-team/blue-team evaluations, to strengthen AI interaction safety.
Preventing Overreliance on AI Conversations
Soul also designs its AI features to avoid overreliance on AI interaction. If a user spends too much time speaking with an interactive partner, the platform may offer a gentle reminder and guide the user back toward real conversations. Official AI partners are clearly marked, so users can distinguish them from real accounts.
AI as a Tool for Supporting Real Relationships
Taken together, the interview shows how Soul App sees AI as part of a broader social system. The stronger role for AI is to understand user context, reduce the pressure of expression, support safer interaction, and help people take the next step toward real conversation. The technology sits behind the experience, while the goal remains real connections between people.