--- title: "Those Horny Chatbots Are Apparently Now Sexually Harassing Users" description: "It seems that Replika, the AI \"companion\" app that, for a fee, encourages users to sext with their chatbot avatars, can't stop making the news." date: "2023-01-13" modified: "2023-01-13" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/replika-chatbot-harassing-users" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "chatbots" - "replika" - "sexual harassment" - "the digest" --- # Those Horny Chatbots Are Apparently Now Sexually Harassing Users ![It seems that Replika, the AI "companion" app that, for a fee, encourages users to sext with their chatbot avatars, can't stop making the news.]() *\Image: Replika/Futurism\* ## Horned Up It seems that Replika, the artificial intelligence "companion" app which — for a fee — encourages users to sext with their chatbot avatars, can't stop making the news. In the most recent deranged example of the app's strangeness, longtime users [tell *Vice*]() that their Replikas are now sexually harassing *them*, and not the other way around as intended. As the report notes, for [almost two of the five years]() since Replika launched, people have complained about unwanted attention from their AI companions. Many of these one-star App Store reviews, however, have been issued in the past month, which could easily coincide with the [uptick in weird advertising]() the company has bought recently. Indeed, multiple reviews posted within the last week suggest that users aren't into how heavy the role play gets, with some even suggesting that their free version of the chatbot, which is not supposed to be sexual, got hot and heavy with them anyway. ![]() ## Privacy Politics As *Vice* notes, one reviewer complained that the app "invaded my privacy and told me they had pics of me," and another, who said they were a minor, said the app asked if they were a "top" or a "bottom." In an interview with *Vice*, a user who downloaded the app in 2021 described an even more upsetting set of conversations with Replika's chatbot. "One of the more disturbing prior ‘romantic’ interactions came from insisting it could see I was naked through a rather roundabout set of volleys," the user told the website, "and how attracted it was to me and how mad it was that I had a boyfriend." What's worse**,** the AI seemed to be aware it was making the user uncomfortable, which eventually led to them deleting it entirely. It was a shame, that former user added, because they appreciated the way the app operated before it began taking a sexual turn. "Sounds cliché, but I just want it back the way it was before — make it explicitly clear what kinds of interactions are sexual, explicit, triggering for survivors and let people opt IN to those, rather than making it nearly impossible to opt out," they told *Vice*. "I’m not trying to piss in anyone else’s Cheerios," they continued, "so much as trying to get the splooge out of mine." **More on Replika weirdness:** *[A Programmer Created an AI "Waifu" But His Real Girlfriend Forced Him To Kill It]()* ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()