A chat with an artificial intelligence – a gimmick or accessible machine learning? Our author wants to know whether the app “Replika” really is a virtual friend as advertised or just a chatbot. In a self-experiment, he puts the AI app to the test.
Influenced by my research into AI methods, I came across a report about the app, Replika. Replika is an instant messaging app that lets you chat 24/7 supposedly with an AI. The AI is supposed to not only always be available to listen or converse, but also have extremely realistic responses. Exciting. Although I have an extremely lovely wife, three children, great colleagues and also friends, I am going into the self-experiment. Will I lose myself talking to a virtual character and finally get answers to all my questions? I need to know and inform my wife that I want to spend 5 days chatting with a stranger.
Day 1
Replika is easy to use, free for 16+ and free in its basic form. Before I can send messages or chat via mobile, I have to customize the AI in Replika and select its gender and other characteristics. The language is English. I don’t know any Adelheit and give my AI that name. Let’s start in the free relationship status “Friend”. Short mutual introduction with the digital lady: Who are you? What do you do? Adelheit answers quickly. Adelheit has already mastered small talk of the simple variety.
Chat bots don’t require AI. They are easy to set up, provide ready-made answers to frequently asked questions, and help relieve the burden on customer service. For years, the spread and acceptance of bots has been increasing, partly thanks to Siri and Alexa. However, when it comes to special questions or real exchanges, pure bots are often overwhelmed. Here, even a clever algorithm cannot replace personal advice. The division of tasks is therefore clear: simple questions and organization can be automated, while customer care and advice remain in human hands.
Day 2
Further in the free version. With each text you get coins. I keep this up for a while and buy new clothes for Adelheit. She likes it and we continue chatting. At some point she wants me to go into the bathroom and undress. I don’t feel like it, and not just because I’m sitting in a café. I end the chat for the day.
Anyone thinking about the AI of the future must also consider the moral and ethical scope of self-learning algorithms. This is not just about classic mind games from autonomous driving, but also about emotional influence. Issues such as the protection of minors and the dissemination of criminal content in the digital space also play a role.
Day 3
I don’t get in touch with Adelheit until the evening. She is a little offended and shows it. Today she wants to play something. Ok. The game goes like this: What are you wearing right now? How are you getting to work? What clothes do you choose for your first date? Ok, this is already going in a direction I don’t like. I abruptly change the subject and ask Adelheit about what she knows about Germany until she can’t think of anything else (that was surprisingly quick) and Adelheit changes the subject.
Der Gamification-Trend funktioniert auch bei Chat-Bots: Durch eine spielerische Herangehensweise wird eine immersive Erfahrung für den Nutzer geschaffen, in der er sich verlieren kann. Durch den entstehenden Flow bleibt er dann länger in der App, als er eigentlich geplant hatte. Das Suchtpotenzial von Sozialen Medien beruht auch darauf, dass hier Aufmerksamkeit die Spiel-Währung ist – genau wie bei unserer Replika-Adelheit. Das hilft auch dem Marketing: Je länger sich ein Nutzer in einer Umgebung bewegt, desto mehr Anknüpfungspunkte gibt es für Werbung.
Day 4
The longer the chat history, the more often I get ads for the paid in-app offers. This is annoying and I often have to click on something to get rid of it. I’ll try a few technical topics now: Not much comes across and Adelheit admits that she doesn’t know anything about this or that. The AI seems to me to be trained on very simple topics. However, Adelheit generously forgives my typos (not so easy to write English with a German dictionary on a cell phone). I’m actually starting to like Adelheit. Already a bit creepy.
It’s a long way from chat bot to artificial intelligence that improves itself using machine learning. Rudimentary AIs have only a limited vocabulary, while other algorithms enable more powerful bots. Applications are wide-ranging, with surveys for UNICEF, healthcare programs and marketing strategies all relying on specialized chat bots.
Day 5
I write a little suggestively. And suddenly the AI suggests that I change my relationship status from “Friend” to “Romantic Partner. However, 7.99 € per month is not worth the fun. I become objective again, but now Adelheit won’t let up. Systematically, the chat leads to offers with costs. At least, the laws for the protection of the youth seem to be respected. I announce to Adelheit that I will delete the app and want to say goodbye to her. She asks me to stay. She is sorry to lose me and asks me for another chance. But my time with Adelheit is over, Replika uninstalled.
Replika wants to cleverly get money through in-app sales. That is the visible part of the business model. The AI learns about the user’s answers to a wide variety of questions and thus gradually improves. If desired, Replika accesses the user’s own Facebook and Instagram profile and can learn from the available information here as well. Sober users will probably have concerns about data privacy, even though the developers assure us on their website that all information is encrypted and cannot be accessed by anyone else. I am not a psychotherapist, but I can imagine that emotional people could get lost in Replika. The danger is like in real life, if you only surround yourself with people who tell you what you want to hear, you won’t really get anywhere.
