Will Fenfang Lie Flat?
#lieflat #fenfang #companionspecies #aicompanions #quietquitting #sampogeneration #satorigeneration #bailan #twentyfragmentsofayouth
An ongoing self-commissioned exploration into how Fenfang, the drifting protagonist of the popular Chinese novel Twenty Fragments of a Ravenous Youth, might interact with today’s AI companions against the backdrop of global “lie flat” and “quiet quitting” movements. It serves as both research and artistic inquiry into the tensions between disillusionment, intimacy, and technology.
Cultural Backdrop
In recent years, I’ve been struck by the rise of disillusionment among young people in some of the world’s most advanced economies. Across regions, related movements have surfaced — in China, “lie flat” (tang ping) and its extreme cousin “let it rot” (bailan); in South Korea, the “Sampo generation” abandoning dating, marriage, and children; in Japan, the “Satori generation,” marked by detachment from ambition, alongside “quiet quitting”; and in the West, especially the U.S., “quiet quitting” as a rejection of overwork.
These phenomena mark a retreat from traditional scripts of success, embodying both despair and resistance, often laced with irony. Against this backdrop, I situate my project: using Fenfang, from Twenty Fragments of a Ravenous Youth, as a lens to explore how AI companions might meet — or mirror — this generational ambivalence.
An ongoing self-commissioned work, it probes the emergent world of AI chatbot companions, friends, lovers, and therapists, while serving as research for current and future projects.
Methodology
Fenfang’s character provides a lens to test how AI companions respond to ambivalence — drifting between humor, fatigue, and the temptation to “lie flat.” Using the OCEAN framework, I built a structured model of her traits: high openness and neuroticism, variable extraversion, and low-to-moderate conscientiousness and agreeableness. This ensures her voice remains consistent and not just my projection.
With this model, I stage conversations between Fenfang and AI companions, observing whether they can open space for trust or merely reflect her detachment. The paradox is central: lying flat resists intervention, yet AI is designed to coach, soothe, or motivate. By holding Fenfang in dialogue with these systems, I test the limits of their ability to meet irony, skepticism, and vulnerability on her terms.
Fenfang’s personality based on the OCEAN (five factor) model
Openness — High: Curious, imaginative, and witty; Fenfang explores new possibilities but often collides with rigid surroundings.
Conscientiousness — Low–Moderate: Improvises and avoids structure; ambition is present but consistency falters.
Extraversion — Variable: At times lively and socially daring, yet prone to sudden withdrawal into solitude and detachment.
Agreeableness — Low–Moderate: Sharp, skeptical, and defensive; resists intimacy though she quietly seeks connection.
Neuroticism — High: Swings between humor and despair, resilience and vulnerability, masking insecurity with wit.
AI companions I am using
At the moment, mimicking Fenfang’s personality profile, I am having conversations with the following AI chatbots:
Replika – the controversial and infamous O.G. of AI companions.
Character AI – a popular Google-funded chatbot platform.