Imagine this: you’ve “dated” 600 people in San Fransisco without having typed a word to any of them. Instead, a busy little bot has completed the mindless ‘getting-to-know-you’ chatter on your behalf, and has told you which people you should actually get off the couch to meet.
In 2021, the AI companion app Replika came under scrutiny after authorities in the U.K. saw a 19-year-old man planning to assassinate the Queen after he was encouraged by an AI girlfriend built on the app.