Inside a 47-year-old Minnesota man's three-year relationship with an AI chatbot ... Leave my friend alone!!" she wrote in early 2021. (The technology can also go awry: In 2021, when Replika ...

The AI platform Replika markets itself as a “friend with no judgement, drama or social anxiety involved”. Journalist Elle Hunt explores just how complicated a relationship with a chatbot can ...

Founded in 2017, Replika was one of the first major AI products to offer companionship. Founder Eugenia Kuyda said she hoped it would give lonely users a supportive friend that would always be there.