Will AI replace human connection?
Where are human-AI relationships headed? Is it ok to be friends, or more, with a chatbot? We discuss this topic with the founder of Replika, a Replika user and a reporter.
Listen 50:38
Replika can be a way for some people to connect with an AI program that mimics human relationships.
Meta’s new artificial intelligence app is designed to answer questions, offer advice, and be a digital companion. CEO Mark Zuckerberg is pushing the idea that chatbots could offer people a sense of connection and fill a friendship void amidst a loneliness epidemic.
As AI has gotten smarter, more pervasive and more human-like, chatbots are taking off. Companies like Replika and character.ai invite users to create personalized digital confidants that people can engage with on demand. Beyond friendship, these bots offer the possibility of romantic — even sexual — connection.
But how meaningful can these connections be? And what are the risks on an individual and societal level?
On this episode of Studio 2, we talk about where human-AI relationships are headed and their impact on the user and our culture.
Guests:
Kashmir Hill, technology reporter for The New York Times and author of Your Face Belongs to Us
Eugenia Kuyda, founder of Replika
TJ Arriaga, an artist who dated his AI companion
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