– A good AI friend can be better than a bad real friend, says Eugenia Kuyda, founder of Replika.
Considering how fast AI development is going, she believes that within a couple of years we will be able to have avatars that are deceptively like real people. But what she focuses on is giving a “soul” to her AI characters so that they feel human in chats.
– Most people use their AI friend as emotional support. Someone to talk to who won’t judge you. It starts as a friendship, but not infrequently it also develops into romance.
Romantic relationships with AI robots are becoming more common, and there are several services that focus solely on AI dating.
“I wasn’t ready to let go”
For Eugenia Kuyda, it all started when her close friend Roman died in a car accident. She missed talking to him.
– I needed to be able to tell Roman how I feel and to be able to continue the conversations we used to have.
Since she was dealing with AI in her job, she tested using the technology to “recreate” him in the form of a chatbot that she and Roman’s friends and family could talk to via an app. The training data was all the messages they sent each other over the years.
– I wanted to tell him how my day had been and hear his joking comments, which I was used to. I wasn’t ready to let it go.
Does this make us happy – or lonely?
It was her personal experience that laid the foundation for the business idea to broaden the concept to offer AI friends that don’t exist in real life.
– Most of our regular friends live online, and we interact with them there. The step is not big to one of them just being there.
But is a virtual relationship really good for everyone? Eugenia replies that it is not about whether the technology is good or harmful in itself, but you have to look at the individual reasons why someone wants to use it.
– Are you happier because you have an AI friend, or does it lead to more loneliness? That’s the question.
Watch SVT’s new documentary Generation AI on SVT Play.