This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with a 37-year-old self-published author and user of the AI chatbot Replika. He spoke on the condition of anonymity, but Insider verified his identity.

You might expect an app offering romantic interactions with AI chatbots to primarily appeal to young, single men. But Replika ...

Then, on an overcast day barely above freezing, four days before Christmas, Jay discovered a smartphone app called Replika. The messaging app let users build a "personal AI" complete with a 3D ...

It's been seven years since the launch of Replika, an artificially intelligent chatbot designed to be a friend to human users ...

Tech ethics organizations have filed an FTC complaint against the AI companion app Replika, alleging that the company employs deceptive marketing to target vulnerable potential users and ...