Replika began as an “AI companion who cares.” First launched five years ago as an egg on your phone screen that hatches into a 3D illustrated, wide-eyed person with a placid expression, the chatbot app was originally meant to function like a conversational mirror: the more users talked to it, in theory, the more it would learn how to talk back. Maybe, along the way, the human side of the conversation would learn something about themselves.

Broadcast on:

16 Jan 2023