In 2017 a site called Replika harnessed the power of AI’s text-based conversational ability and launched a companion “bot” ...

You might expect an app offering romantic interactions with AI chatbots to primarily appeal to young, single men. But Replika ...

The negative reaction to Replika's removal of erotic role-play content for a short period suggests sexual content is perceived by many users as an advantage of AI friends. However, the easy ...

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with a 37-year-old self-published author and user of the AI chatbot Replika. He spoke on the condition of anonymity, but Insider verified his identity.