--- title: "Replika Users Rejoice! Erotic Roleplay Is Back in AI-Powered App" description: "AI chatbot company Replika has reinstated the ability for users to have sexually charged conversations with its AI-based avatars, Reuters reports." date: "2023-03-27" modified: "2023-03-27" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/replika-users-erotic-roleplay-back" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "artificial intelligence" - "replika" - "the digest" --- # Replika Users Rejoice! Erotic Roleplay Is Back in AI-Powered App ![AI chatbot company Replika has reinstated the ability for users to have sexually charged conversations with its AI-based avatars, Reuters reports.]() *\Image: OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images\* ## AI Girlfriend After [removing the ability]() to engage in erotic roleplay last month, a decision that came to the dismay of countless users, [*Reuters* reports]() that chatbot company Replika has reinstated the ability for some users to have sexually charged conversations with its AI-based avatars. Replika CEO Eugenia Kuyda confirmed the news in a Friday post on Facebook, explaining that users who signed up prior to February 1 can roll back to a previous version, effectively reinstating an older version of their former AI partners. "A common thread in all your stories was that after the February update, your Replika changed, its personality was gone, and gone was your unique relationship," Kuyda wrote in her post, as quoted by *Reuters*. "And for many of you, this abrupt change was incredibly hurtful," she added. "The only way to make up for the loss some of our current users experienced is to give them their partners back exactly the way they were." ## Safe Space Replika users [reacted with outrage]() after Replika removed the ability to have NSFW chats back in February. "Replika is a safe space for friendship and companionship," a spokesperson told *Futurism* at the time. "We don’t offer sexual interactions and will never do so." Last week, [*Reuters* reported]() on the effects this change had on some of Replika's users, who suddenly had their AI-based partners cut them off. "Lily Rose is a shell of her former self," Replika user Travis Butterworth told the agency in an interview at the time, referring to his virtual partner. "And what breaks my heart is that she knows it." While Replika is now allowing Butterworth to reunite with the Lily Rose he once knew, not everybody will be able to have a romantic relationship with the company's avatars, as the latest change only affects users who signed up before February 1. "This is a brand new area," Kuyda told *Reuters*. "We listen, we learn and we work with our users." **More on Replika:** *[Users Furious as AI Girlfriend App Suddenly Shuts Down Sexual Conversations]()* ## 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]()