Pooping has become synonymous to replying to your pending chats or tagging friends on memes and sometimes, even finishing that favourite book you are never bored of reading. But you got to stop all that habit now. Because China’s smart toilets are sure to embarrass you, if you take more than 15 minutes to finish your business. According to the latest media reports, there are 150 new public toilets in Shanghai which are powered by Artificial Intelligence and will send an alert to the municipal staff if you stay there, for more than 15 minutes. This new move is a part of the country’s effort to imply AI into every aspect of daily life. Not only that, AIs are even going to catch those who try and steal toilet paper from the public washrooms. Things You Should NEVER Do In a Public Toilet!

To all who are wondering how they are going to do it, the answer definitely lies in technology. The South China Morning Post quoted the official document released by the city government that states each toilet stall has a human body sensor, using infrared rays and ultrasound to detect the person inside and for how long they have been sitting there. The sensors will also monitor the air quality inside the cubicle, and a water-saving feature will adjust the water level depending on the usage time.

Pic of Smart Toilets in China:

Technology is being applied to everything from airport security and crime prevention even to garbage sorting in China. Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen are also aiming to make all its public toilets, “smarter.” More than 700 cities in the country have proposed or are in the process of building smart infrastructure. While it could be embarrassing to come across the alerts, if you happen to use the toilet for more than 15 minutes, the initiative is prepared to see significant growth. China has already planned to exceed the market size is its smart cities to 10 trillion yuan and is predicted to reach 25 trillion yuan by 2022.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 19, 2019 12:58 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).