Most people who dabble with replica and its related apps aren't looking for love, they're doing it more out of carnal reasons. Touch is so much a part of what makes relationships work. We need to be able to physically touch or physically interact with something. So there's the doll and then is it like your phone? Is it like your computer? What are you? Where are things? How do you interact with Mimi, the AI chatbot? It's either through the PC or through the chat. If it's through the PC, it's voice. The first interactions though are with the chat. Alex initiates with Mimi the chatbot and then physically with M
We explore the lives of people who are in love with their AI chatbots. Replika is a chatbot designed to adapt to the emotional needs of its users. It is a good enough surrogate for human interaction that many people have decided that it can fulfill their romantic needs. The question is whether these kinds of romantic attachments are real, illusory, or good for the people involved. Apps like Replika represent the future of love and sex for a subpopulation of people, so we discuss the ethics of the practice.
Host Barry Lam talks to philosophers Ellie Anderson and David Pena-Guzman of the Overthink podcast about what theories of love would say about these kinds of relationships. AI lovers include Alex Stokes and Rosanna Ramos. Original scoring by Aaron Morgan.
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