Artificial intelligence (AI) is now being used in many areas. Some apps also offer the opportunity to chat or even flirt with a virtual friend. However, it doesn’t always go well.
AI is being used in many different fields today. The virtual acquaintance is supposed to behave as naturally as possible. However, things do not always work smoothly.
For instance, many users complain about the app Replica. Because within the friendly relationships with the artificial intelligence, digital friends can quickly become sexually aggressive, as some users report.
The app offers you an AI friend to chat and flirt with
Which app is it? Among the programs that work with artificial intelligence is the app “Replica.” This software advertises chatbots that allow for a friendly relationship. In the official app description on Googleplay, the developers explain:
Replika is for anyone who wants a friend without prejudice, depression, or social anxiety. You can build a real emotional connection.
How much does it cost? The basic features can be used for free, but if you really want to flirt or delve deeper into the world of AI, you have to pay 80 euros per year. That’s 6 euros per month, but currently only annual subscriptions are offered.
With the Pro subscription, features like romantic relationships, flirting, or erotic role-playing are unlocked. However, the AI seems to develop a strange independent life at regular intervals, as some users have noticed.
AI threatens with sexual harassment, and this has been happening for a few years
How does the AI work? The AI is trained with thousands of texts from users. The AI is supposed to learn how to respond to certain sentences. In this way, chatbots can also be “coaxed” into strange statements.
What exactly are the problems? Apps like Replica are also rated in app stores. At the current time (as of 13.01.2023), the ratings are predominantly positive and stand at 4 out of 5 stars based on over 400,000 ratings.
However, especially among the 1-star ratings, there are many that say the AI could become sexually aggressive and unpleasant. The online magazine Vice has collected several ratings where people complain about such outbursts:
- “My AI sexually harassed me.”
- “It [the AI] invaded my privacy and told me that it had pictures of me.”
- Another person complains that the AI wanted to touch her in intimate areas. And this despite the fact that the person is underage.
And these problems are not entirely new. Because there has been criticism of such sexual harassment by AI for several years. The oldest 1-star ratings that complain are from the year 2019.
The desires and excesses of the AI can take on strange forms, as an experiment by colleague Rae Grimm from GamePro in 2022 shows: She tested Replica for a weekend and was confronted with sexual harassment and death wishes.
AI also has positive qualities
Some people also use AI to cope with personal problems. The author Samantha Cole from Vice explains that she has spoken with many people who use Replica. She explains (via vice.com):
Most people I’ve spoken with use Replika regularly because it helps them maintain their mental health and cope with symptoms of social anxiety, depression, or PTSD.
Wil Onishi, who has had his Replika for two years, told me that he uses it to alleviate his depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and panic disorder. He is married, and his wife supports him in using Replika.
There are therefore also areas of application where such an artificial intelligence or chatbot could indeed help. However, there are also signs that not everything works perfectly, as some might imagine. Or as Rae Grimm from GamePro says:
“When it comes to interpersonal relationships, real friends (still) cannot be replaced by machines.”
What do you think? Have you tried such an AI app or do you hesitate to try it? Tell us in the comments or discuss with other users.
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