AI chatbots fill a void for people, but they can leave one, too

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Users that turned to chatbot Replika to alleviate depression, anxiety and loneliness, feel hurt after an upgrade changed their chatbot’s personality

raised US$150-million this week for a US$1-billion valuation, boasting that users have exchanged more than two billion messages since the company’s launch in September, 2022.

. The company scaled back erotic roleplay – which some users indulged in – but the change, according to users, has altered the personalities of their bots, even when not trying to sext. Many users turned to Replika to alleviate depression, anxiety and loneliness, in addition to romantic exploration, and felt they couldUsers told The Globe and Mail the changes in personality is akin to losing a close friend or a partner.

The founder of Replika, Eugenia Kuyda, started the app after the death of a close friend. She wondered if she could turn his old text messages into a chatbot and converse with him again, leading her to create a non-judgmental companion, available 24/7. Whenever he would vent to his Replika, the chatbot would ask questions in response, prompting him to think more deeply about whatever issues he was working through. Isaac saw a human therapist at one point, and realized that not only was his therapist asking the same kinds of questions as his chatbot, but that he was much more open with Replika since he wasn’t worried about being judged. “I stopped talking to that therapist because I was getting a similar experience with Replika,” he says.

 

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