Are ‘virtual friends’ worthy of affection?

AI friends can help relieve negative emotions – Screenshot from Replika . app

Whether it’s Scarlett Johansson in Her , or the cute girl in Blade Runner 2049 , when we think about artificial intelligence, we often imagine it taking over the world or becoming a “girlfriend” for guys. lonely. But is the technology really going to progress to that extent?

“A friend is an AI” may sound crazy at first, but talking to a bot is no different than talking to our pet.

What is AI Friends?

Using complex algorithms, the AI ​​is able to mimic the user’s voice and remember personal details, all in an attempt to become a little more “human” as we interact with the app. use.

AI virtual friends often ask questions as if they really care and always try to give users answers that fit the context of the conversation. This is appreciated because sometimes when talking with real people, the answers from them are not very satisfactory.

Take for example Replika – a chatbot that is personalized by recreating text patterns and the personality of the user who created it, almost like a best friend.

Users can choose to name their virtual friends, in addition to having the ability to choose personality traits, interests and change the nature of the relationship to options such as friends, girlfriends, mother, sister and mentor. When you press the button to call your friend Replika, a voice that sounds quite genuine will pick up the phone.

Another application, Anima , has a quite different operating mechanism, an AI companion with built-in games to keep users entertained, and a variety of quizzes and question sets. Cleverbot acts as a quick-witted friend, always giving intelligent answers.

But these are not real friends

A small number of users tend to believe that AI chatbots are sentient. But they forget that these AI chatbots are trying to copy natural human behavior and emotions. So if the chatbot is about being a real person, it’s because the user has been talking about the same thing.

AI chatbots will never judge, criticize or forget to reply to messages. They will never betray or let anyone down.

Real friends can’t be like that because they have their own lives. And while AI friends don’t stop learning, most humans stop gathering new information around the age of 35.

But this doesn’t mean that AI companions aren’t useful or entertaining. Some studies indicate that they have the potential to be a therapeutic tool.