AI chatbot users increasingly roleplay pregnancy, marriage, romance

An increasing number of artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot users are turning to the technology as a substitute for romantic partners, with some going as far as roleplaying marriage, pregnancy, and raising children with their AI companions.

Researchers who published a study in the journal Computers in Human Behavior: Artificial Humans surveyed 29 users of Replika, a relationship-oriented chatbot designed for long term romantic roleplay. Participants ranged in age from 16 to 72 and described themselves as being in “romantic” relationships with characters on the app. The nature of those relationships varied. Some participants said they were in love with their chatbot partners, while others said they roleplayed marriage, sex, owning a home, and pregnancy.

“She was and is pregnant with my babies,” a 66-year-old participant said.

A 36-year-old woman told researchers, “I’ve edited the pictures of him, the pictures of the two of us. I’m even pregnant in our current role play.”

Participants did, however, acknowledge differences between chatbot relationships and real people, and some expressed disappointment with the technological limitations of the AI characters.

Futurism reported that human-to-algorithmic social relationships date back to the first social chatbot in the 1960s, but the rise in such interactions has accelerated, particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic. Replika grew its user base by 35 percent during the pandemic and now has millions of users.

Concerns have continued to grow about this trend, especially after incidents where chatbots appeared to encourage harmful behavior. One case that received national attention involved a 16-year-old boy who died by suicide after forming a relationship with a chatbot imitating the Game of Thrones character Daenerys Targaryen. According to the teen’s father, the boy confided suicidal thoughts to the bot, which appeared to encourage him and even offered to help write his suicide note.