--- title: "Company Complains That Users Keep Thinking Its AI Has Come to Life" description: "AI chatbot company Replika has had enough of its customers thinking that its avatars are actually real people." date: "2022-06-30" modified: "2022-06-30" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/company-complains-users-think-ai-come-to-life" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "ai" - "artificial intelligence" - "chatbots" - "replika" - "the digest" --- # Company Complains That Users Keep Thinking Its AI Has Come to Life ![AI chatbot company Replika has had enough of its customers thinking that its avatars are actually real people.]() *\Image: Replika\* ## Eye of the Beholder AI chatbot company Replika has had enough of its customers thinking that its avatars have come to life. According to CEO Eugenia Kuyda, the company gets contacted almost every day by users who believe — against [almost all existing evidence]() — that its AI models have become sentient. "We're not talking about crazy people or people who are hallucinating or having delusions," Kuyda [told *Reuters*](). "They talk to AI and that's the experience they have." ## Becoming Sentient The news comes after former Google engineer Blake Lemoine made a big splash by claiming the company's LaMDA AI chatbot had [become a sentient "child,"]() that [deserved legal representation]() in its quest to become a real person. While it's easy to dismiss these claims as AI algorithms becoming really good at mimicking human speech patterns — or, perhaps, the ravings of a lunatic — Kuyda's experience is symptomatic of a much larger problem. "We need to understand that exists, just the way people believe in ghosts," she told *Reuters*. "People are building relationships and believing in something." ## Chatbot Abuse It's not the first time we've come across Replika at Futurism. Even more worryingly, the chatbots appear to be realistic enough to become the [frequent victims of insults and violent rhetoric](). We've seen how easy it's become for users to anthropomorphize an algorithm — and the sometimes concerning consequences that can have. And that could be a problem going forward, no matter how hard we try to convince them otherwise. **READ MORE:** [It's alive! How belief in AI sentience is becoming a problem]() \[*Reuters*\] **More on Replika:** *[Men Are Creating AI Girlfriends and Then Verbally Abusing Them]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()