Romantic relationships with AI are ‘a terrible idea’ but more people are entering them, expert warns

AN ARTIFICIAL intelligence development firm has offered users the option to enter a romantic relationship with a social chatbot.

Replika brands its chatbot as a tool for improving mental health - it creates a digital buddy programmed to care in a judgment-free space.

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With a paid subscription, users can change their relationship status to "romantic partner" or "see how it goes" and the AI will respond accordingly.

"If you don't keep in touch once a day, you start to feel guilty," a Replika user in a relationship with his avatar told .

But experts warn that falling for AI would be a pitfall for humans looking for real connection.

"Getting involved would be a terrible decision - you would be in a one-sided relationship with a machine that feels nothing," said Susan Schneider, founding director of the Center for the Future Mind at Florida Atlantic University, an AI research organization.

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"Simulated feeling is never feeling. Simulated love is never love," an MIT professor and AI researcher told .

Replika's CEO Eugenia Kuyda has personally spent time quelling a user's unfounded fear that their AI bot was awake and in pain.

"We need to understand that exists, just the way people believe in ghosts," Kuyda told .

Replika's forums explicitly state "Replika is not a sentient being or therapy professional."

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Harvard's Graduate School of Education found that of Americans feel "serious loneliness".

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Replika's AI can be programmed for different conversation styles and upgrading its interests will make it even more dynamic, informative, and - above all else - interested in you.

It's easy to see how a person could want their Replika to be sentient.

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Replika's chat system is also heavily gamified - users earn XP which can be spent on new outfits or personality traits for the avatar.

Google went through a similar episode when an engineer publicly declared their LaMDA AI program was alive and deserving of personhood.