“Her”, released in 2013 and starring Joaquin Phoenix, tells the story of a lonely man who he develops a romantic relationship with an AI operating system named “Samantha”. This science fiction plot is coming true through Replikaa successful artificial intelligence app in which many people search for love.
Eugenia Kuyda, a businesswoman, devised an application that takes the form of a chatbot. Its purpose is to be a virtual friend, partner and even a lover. The inspiration came after the tragic loss of his best friend, Roman Mazurenko, in an accident in 2015. Kuyda’s team collected Roman’s texts and he created software that allowed him to continue having conversations with a virtual version of his deceased friend.
Despite its origin as a way to keep in touch with a deceased friend, the service evolved to offer additional options, such as the ability to choose between a virtual friend, boyfriend, mentor, or brother. This idea has been highly successful, with more than 10 million app downloadsthus creating a digital version of a person.
Although Replika offers some free features, the most interesting features are paid. For example, the Pro version allows you to interact with a seductive bot named Miriamwhich can propose to send intimate images in exchange for a payment.
The possibility of have AI video calls and build relationships it has attracted 250,000 users who have paid for these features. According to Sensor Tower, Replika has generated $60 million in subscriptions, making it a profitable business.
Fountain: Telegraph
