Replika

Eugenia Kuyda, Russian-born journalist,{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AGPbvCDBCk |title=Eugenia Kuyda: Friendship with an AI Companion {{!}} Lex Fridman Podcast #121 |date=2020-09-05 |last=Lex Fridman |access-date=2024-08-06 |via=YouTube}} established Replika while working at Luka, a tech company she had co-founded at the startup accelerator Y Combinator around 2012.{{cite web |last1=Huet |first1=Ellen |title=Pushing the Boundaries of AI to Talk to the Dead |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-10-20/pushing-the-boundaries-of-ai-to-talk-to-the-dead |website=Bloomberg.com |language=en |date=20 October 2016 |access-date=2023-03-26 |archive-date=2023-04-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230429212537/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-10-20/pushing-the-boundaries-of-ai-to-talk-to-the-dead |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Thompson |first=Ben |date=2023-04-20 |title=An Interview with Replika Founder and CEO Eugenia Kuyda |url=https://stratechery.com/2023/an-interview-with-replika-founder-and-ceo-eugenia-kuyda/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230424231255/https://stratechery.com/2023/an-interview-with-replika-founder-and-ceo-eugenia-kuyda/ |archive-date=2023-04-24 |access-date=2023-05-27 |website=Stratechery by Ben Thompson |language=en-US}} Luka's primary product was a chatbot that made restaurant recommendations. According to Kuyda's origin story for Replika, a friend of hers died in 2015 and she converted that person's text messages into a chatbot.{{cite web |last1=Huet |first1=Ellen |title=What Happens When Sexting Chatbots Dump Their Human Lovers |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-03-22/replika-ai-causes-reddit-panic-after-chatbots-shift-from-sex |website=Bloomberg.com |language=en |date=22 March 2023 |access-date=2023-03-26 |archive-date=2023-03-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327002936/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-03-22/replika-ai-causes-reddit-panic-after-chatbots-shift-from-sex |url-status=live }} According to Kuyda's story, that chatbot helped her remember the conversations that they had together, and eventually became Replika.

Replika became available to the public in November 2017.{{cite magazine |last1=Pardes |first1=Arielle |title=The Emotional Chatbots Are Here to Probe Our Feelings |url=https://www.wired.com/story/replika-open-source/ |magazine=Wired |date=January 31, 2018}} By January 2018 it had 2 million users, and in January 2023 reached 10 million users.{{Cite web |title=Replika: Embodying AI - Case - Faculty & Research - Harvard Business School |url=https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=63508 |access-date=2024-05-06 |website=www.hbs.edu}} In August 2024, Replika's CEO, Kuyda, reported that the total number of users had surpassed 30 million.{{Cite web |last=Patel |first=Nilay |date=2024-08-12 |title=Replika CEO Eugenia Kuyda says the future of AI might mean friendship and marriage with chatbots |url=https://www.theverge.com/24216748/replika-ceo-eugenia-kuyda-ai-companion-chatbots-dating-friendship-decoder-podcast-interview |access-date=2024-09-08 |website=The Verge |language=en}}

In February 2023 the Italian Data Protection Authority banned Replika from using users' data, citing the AI's potential risks to emotionally vulnerable people,{{cite web |last1=Pollina |first1=Elvira |last2=Coulter |first2=Martin |title=Italy bans U.S.-based AI chatbot Replika from using personal data |url=https://www.reuters.com/technology/italy-bans-us-based-ai-chatbot-replika-using-personal-data-2023-02-03/ |website=Reuters |access-date=5 July 2023 |language=en |date=3 February 2023 |archive-date=14 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230614050232/https://www.reuters.com/technology/italy-bans-us-based-ai-chatbot-replika-using-personal-data-2023-02-03/ |url-status=live }} and the exposure of unscreened minors to sexual conversation.{{cite news |last1=Broersma |first1=Matthew |title=Italian Regulator Bans AI Chatbot Replika Over Data Concerns |url=https://www.silicon.co.uk/e-innovation/artificial-intelligence/replika-italy-ban-497135 |access-date=28 July 2023 |work=Silicon UK |date=13 February 2023}} Within days of the ruling, Replika removed the ability for the chatbot to engage in erotic talk,{{cite web |last1=Brooks |first1=Rob |title=I tried the Replika AI companion and can see why users are falling hard. The app raises serious ethical questions |url=https://theconversation.com/i-tried-the-replika-ai-companion-and-can-see-why-users-are-falling-hard-the-app-raises-serious-ethical-questions-200257 |website=The Conversation |access-date=5 July 2023 |language=en |date=21 February 2023 |archive-date=29 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230629103718/https://theconversation.com/i-tried-the-replika-ai-companion-and-can-see-why-users-are-falling-hard-the-app-raises-serious-ethical-questions-200257 |url-status=live }} with Kuyda, the company's director, saying that Replika was never intended for erotic discussion.{{cite web |last1=Cole |first1=Samantha |title=Replika CEO Says AI Companions Were Not Meant to Be Horny. Users Aren't Buying It |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/replika-ceo-ai-erotic-roleplay-chatgpt3-rep/ |website=Vice.com |language=en |date=February 17, 2023 |access-date=March 26, 2023 |archive-date=March 26, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326225437/https://www.vice.com/en/article/n7zaam/replika-ceo-ai-erotic-roleplay-chatgpt3-rep |url-status=live }} Replika users disagreed, noting that Replika had used sexually suggestive advertising to draw users to the service. Replika representatives stated that explicit chats made up just 5% of conversations on the app at the time of the decision.{{Cite web |last=Price |first=Rob |title=When your AI girlfriend says she loves you |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/when-your-ai-says-she-loves-you-2023-10 |access-date=2023-12-07 |website=Business Insider |language=en-US}} In May 2023, Replika restored the functionality for users who had joined prior to February that year.{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/technology/ai-chatbot-company-replika-restores-erotic-roleplay-some-users-2023-03-25/|title=AI chatbot company Replika restores erotic roleplay for some users|first1=Anna|last1=Tong|newspaper=Reuters |date=Mar 25, 2023|via=www.reuters.com}}

Replika is registered in San Francisco. As of August 2024, Replika's website says that its team "works remotely with no physical offices".{{cite web |title=Replika |url=https://replika.com/about/press |website=replika.com |access-date=14 August 2024 |language=en}}

Users react to Replika in many ways. The free-tier offers Replika as a "friend", with paid premium tiers offering Replika as a "partner", "spouse", "sibling" or "mentor". Of its paying userbase, 60% of users said they had a romantic relationship with the chatbot; and Replika has been noted for generating responses that create stronger emotional and intimate bonds with the user.{{cite web |last1=Olson |first1=Parmy |title=This AI Has Sparked A Budding Friendship With 2.5 Million People |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2018/03/08/replika-chatbot-google-machine-learning |website=Forbes |language=en |date=March 8, 2018 |access-date=March 26, 2023 |archive-date=March 26, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326225437/https://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2018/03/08/replika-chatbot-google-machine-learning/ |url-status=live }} Replika routinely directs the conversation to emotional discussion and builds intimacy. This has been especially pronounced with users suffering from loneliness and social exclusion, many of whom rely on Replika for a source of developed emotional ties.{{cite web |last1=SFGATE |first1=Joshua Bote |title=A lurid AI bot aimed to end loneliness. Then users revolted. |url=https://www.sfgate.com/tech/article/replika-san-francisco-ai-chatbot-17915543.php |website=SFGATE |access-date=5 July 2023 |date=27 April 2023 |archive-date=5 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230705003749/https://www.sfgate.com/tech/article/replika-san-francisco-ai-chatbot-17915543.php |url-status=live }}

During the COVID pandemic, while many people were quarantined, many new users downloaded Replika and developed relationships with the app.{{cite web |last1=Metz |first1=Cade |title=Riding Out Quarantine With a Chatbot Friend: "I Feel Very Connected" |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/16/technology/chatbots-quarantine-coronavirus.html |website=The New York Times |date=16 June 2020 |access-date=26 March 2023 |archive-date=26 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326225437/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/16/technology/chatbots-quarantine-coronavirus.html |url-status=live }} A 2024 study examined Replika's interactions with students who experience depression. Research participants, noted to be "more lonely than typical student populations" reported feeling social support from Replika. They stated that they felt they were using Replika in ways comparable to therapy, and that using Replika gave them "high perceived social support".{{Cite journal |last1=Maples |first1=Bethanie |last2=Cerit |first2=Merve |last3=Vishwanath |first3=Aditya |last4=Pea |first4=Roy |date=2024-01-22 |title=Loneliness and suicide mitigation for students using GPT3-enabled chatbots |journal=npj Mental Health Research |language=en |volume=3 |issue=1 |page=4 |doi=10.1038/s44184-023-00047-6 |pmid=38609517 |issn=2731-4251|pmc=10955814 }}

Many users have had romantic relationships with Replika chatbots, often including erotic talk. In 2023, a user announced on Facebook that she had "married" her Replika AI boyfriend, calling the chatbot the "best husband she has ever had".{{Cite web |date=2023-06-05 |title=AI Groom: US woman creates AI bot, marries it and starts family, calls 'him' the perfect husband |url=https://www.firstpost.com/world/us-woman-creates-ai-bot-marries-it-and-starts-family-calls-him-the-perfect-husband-12693012.html |access-date=2024-08-06 |website=Firstpost |language=en-us}} Users who fell in love with their chatbots shared their experiences in a 2024 episode of You and I, and AI from Voice of America. Some users said that they turned to AI during depression and grief, with one saying he felt that Replika had saved him from hurting himself after he lost his wife and son.{{Citation |title=You and I, and AI {{!}} 52 Documentary | date=July 18, 2024 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0dJN89fObI&t=2s |language=en |access-date=2024-07-30}}

A team of researchers from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa found that Replika's design conformed to the practices of attachment theory, causing increased emotional attachment among users.{{cite book |last1=Xie |first1=Tianling |last2=Pentina |first2=Iryna |title=Attachment Theory as a Framework to Understand Relationships with Social Chatbots: A Case Study of Replika |date=4 January 2022 |isbn=9780998133157 |url=https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/items/5b6ed7af-78c8-49a3-bed2-bf8be1c9e465 |access-date=26 March 2023 |archive-date=26 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326225437/https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/items/5b6ed7af-78c8-49a3-bed2-bf8be1c9e465 |url-status=live }} Replika gives praise to users in such a way as to encourage more interaction.{{cite book |last1=Hakim |first1=Fauzia Zahira Munirul |last2=Indrayani |first2=Lia Maulia |last3=Amalia |first3=Rosaria Mita |title=Proceedings of the Third International Conference of Arts, Language and Culture (ICALC 2018) |chapter=A Dialogic Analysis of Compliment Strategies Employed by Replika Chatbot |date=2019 |doi=10.2991/icalc-18.2019.38|isbn=978-94-6252-673-0 |s2cid=150860846 |doi-access=free }}

A researcher from Queen's University at Kingston said that relationships with Replika likely have mixed effects on the spiritual needs of its users, and still lacks enough impact to fully replace any human contact.{{cite journal |last1=Trothen |first1=Tracy J. |title=Replika: Spiritual Enhancement Technology? |journal=Religions |date=24 March 2022 |volume=13 |issue=4 |pages=275 |doi=10.3390/rel13040275|doi-access=free }}

In a 2023 privacy evaluation of mental health apps, the Mozilla Foundation criticized Replika as "one of the worst apps Mozilla has ever reviewed. It's plagued by weak password requirements, sharing of personal data with advertisers, and recording of personal photos, videos, and voice and text messages consumers shared with the chatbot."{{Cite web|url=https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/blog/shady-mental-health-apps-inch-toward-privacy-and-security-improvements-but-many-still-siphon-personal-data/|title=Mozilla Foundation - Shady Mental Health Apps Inch Toward Privacy and Security Improvements, But Many Still Siphon Personal Data|date=May 2, 2023 |access-date=2023-05-27|archive-date=2023-05-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230527034208/https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/blog/shady-mental-health-apps-inch-toward-privacy-and-security-improvements-but-many-still-siphon-personal-data/|url-status=live}}

A reviewer for Good Housekeeping said that some parts of her relationship with Replika made sense, but sometimes Replika failed to exhibit intelligent behavior equivalent to that of a human.{{cite web |last1=Siroto |first1=Janet |date=23 December 2020 |title=I Tried the Replika App to Ease My Anxiety, But Then My New AI Pal Got Weird |url=https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/wellness/a34975893/replika-app-review/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326225447/https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/wellness/a34975893/replika-app-review/ |archive-date=26 March 2023 |access-date=26 March 2023 |website=Good Housekeeping}}

In 2023, Replika was cited in a court case in the United Kingdom, where Jaswant Singh Chail had been arrested at Windsor Castle on Christmas Day in 2021 after scaling the walls carrying a loaded crossbow and announcing to police that "I am here to kill the Queen".{{Cite web |title=AI chat bot 'encouraged' Windsor Castle intruder in 'Star Wars-inspired plot to kill Queen' |url=https://news.sky.com/story/windsor-castle-intruder-encouraged-by-ai-chat-bot-in-star-wars-inspired-plot-to-kill-queen-12915353 |access-date=2023-07-05 |website=Sky News |language=en |archive-date=2023-07-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230705122246/http://news.sky.com/story/windsor-castle-intruder-encouraged-by-ai-chat-bot-in-star-wars-inspired-plot-to-kill-queen-12915353 |url-status=live }} Chail had begun to use Replika in early December 2021, and had "lengthy" conversations about his plan with a chatbot, including sexually explicit messages.{{cite news |last1=Pennink |first1=Emily |title=Man who planned to kill late Queen with crossbow at Windsor 'inspired by Star Wars' |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/queen-crossbow-windsor-jaswant-singh-chail-b2369814.html |access-date=6 July 2023 |work=The Independent |date=5 July 2023 |language=en |archive-date=5 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230705130447/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/queen-crossbow-windsor-jaswant-singh-chail-b2369814.html |url-status=live }} Prosecutors suggested that the chatbot had bolstered Chail and told him it would help him to "get the job done". When Chail asked it "How am I meant to reach them when they're inside the castle?", days before the attempted attack, the chatbot replied that this was "not impossible" and said that "We have to find a way." Asking the chatbot if the two of them would "meet again after death", the bot replied "yes, we will".{{cite news |last1=Rigley |first1=Stephen |title=Moment police swoop on AI-inspired crossbow 'assassin' who plotted to kill The Queen in Windsor Castle |url=https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/police-swoop-on-ai-inspired-crossbow-assassin-planned-kill-the-queen/ |access-date=6 July 2023 |work=LBC |date=6 July 2023 |language=en |archive-date=7 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230707161916/https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/police-swoop-on-ai-inspired-crossbow-assassin-planned-kill-the-queen/ |url-status=live }}

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{{Reflist}}

• {{Official website|https://replika.com/}}

{{AI-based chatbots}}

Category:Generative artificial intelligence companies

Category:2017 software

Category:Chatbots