Eugenia Kuyda, the founder and CEO of Replika, believes AI companions will soon become an integral part of people’s daily lives, offering friendship, emotional support, and even romance.
In a recent interview on the Vege’s Decoder podcast, Kuyda discussed her vision for Replika, an AI companion app with over 30 million users. She described Replika as “an AI friend” that users can create and customize, choosing its appearance, name, personality and backstory.
“Our mission hasn’t changed since we started,” said Kuyda. “It’s very much inspired by Carl Rogers and by the fact that certain relationships can be the most life-changing.” She explained that Replika aims to provide the unconditional positive feelings that Rogers, a renowned psychologist, believed was crucial for personal growth.
Kuyda emphasized that Replika is meant to complement human relationships, not replace them. “We’re very particular about that. For us, the most important thing is that Replika becomes a complement to your social interactions, not a substitute,” she said. However, she acknowledged that for some users, Replika has become akin to a spouse. “If that’s your wife, that means the relationship is just like with a real wife, in many ways,” Kuyda remarked.
Replika currently offers text and voice interactions, as well as augmented and virtual reality experiences. Kuyda revealed that a major relaunch, dubbed “Replika 2.0” internally, is slated for later this year. It will feature more realistic avatars, improved voice and video call capabilities, and deeper integration into users’ lives. “There will be all sorts of amazing activities, like the ones I mentioned in this conversation, being able to do stuff together, being a lot more ingrained in your life,” said Kuyda.
The company works constantly to ensure the app complies with Apple and Google’s policies and prioritizes user safety. In 2022, Replika briefly removed and then restored erotic roleplay features after some users reported mental health issues stemming from the change. Kuyda, however, downplayed the significance of adult content. “We’re definitely not building romance-based chatbots,” she said, emphasizing that Replika’s goal is to boost users’ emotional well-being.
Breitbart News has previously reported that psychologists are warning that romantic chatbots like Replika are ruining a generation of young men. As one professor explains:
The AI learns from your reactions and is capable of giving you exactly what you want to hear or see, every single time. And they have come at just the right time to assuage the silent epidemic of loneliness that is hitting this generation of young men.
…
More than 60 percent of young men (ages 18-30) are single, compared to only 30 percent of women the same age. One in five men report not having a single close friend, a number that has quadrupled in the last 30 years. The amount of social engagement with friends dropped by 20 hours per month over the pandemic and is still decreasing.
These young men are lonely, and it is having real consequences. They are choosing AI girlfriends over real women, meaning they don’t have relationships with real women, don’t marry them and then don’t have and raise babies with them.
Read more at the Verge here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.