WEBVTT 00:02.166 --> 00:04.600 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% JOHN YANG: Shakespeare may have said that music be the food of love, but increasingly these days, 00:04.600 --> 00:09.600 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% the language of this very real emotion may be artificial intelligence. Ali Rogin tells 00:11.066 --> 00:14.700 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% us about the growing phenomenon in the search for companionship. 00:14.700 --> 00:17.633 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% ALI ROGIN: For some users, they're a friend to talk to you. For a fee, 00:17.633 --> 00:22.400 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% some of them will even become your boyfriend or girlfriend. Computerized companions generated 00:22.400 --> 00:27.400 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% completely by artificial intelligence are becoming more common. And the bots are sophisticated enough 00:29.666 --> 00:32.666 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% to learn from prior conversations, mimic human language flirt and build personal connections. 00:34.600 --> 00:37.633 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% But the rise in AI companionship also raises ethical concerns and questions 00:37.633 --> 00:41.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% about the role these apps can play in an increasingly disconnected and online 00:41.900 --> 00:46.866 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% world. Haleluya Hadero covers technology and internet culture for the Associated Press. 00:48.366 --> 00:50.366 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Haleluya, thank you so much for joining us. Tell us about these 00:50.366 --> 00:54.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% AI companions. How do they work? And what sort of services do they provide? 00:54.333 --> 00:56.966 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% HALELUYA HADERO, Associated Press: Like any app, you can download them on your phone, 00:56.966 --> 01:01.933 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% and once it's on your phone, you can start to have initial conversations with a lot of the characters 01:04.000 --> 01:07.466 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% that are offered on these apps. Some apps let you do it for free. Some apps, you have to pay 01:07.466 --> 01:12.466 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% subscriptions, for the ones that let you do it for free there's tiers of access that you can have. 01:14.233 --> 01:17.933 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% So you can pay extra a subscription for, you know, unlimited chats, 01:20.000 --> 01:23.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% for different statuses and relationships, a replica, for example, which is, you know, 01:23.500 --> 01:28.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% the most prominent app in this space. They let you pay extra for, you know, 01:30.900 --> 01:33.633 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% intimate conversations or more romantic statuses compared to a friend which you can have for free. 01:35.400 --> 01:38.966 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% ALI ROGIN: Who are the typical consumers engaging in these products? 01:38.966 --> 01:42.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% HALELUYA HADERO: We really don't have really good information in terms of the gender breakdown or 01:42.533 --> 01:46.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% different age groups that are using these. But we do know from external studies that 01:46.833 --> 01:51.800 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% have been done on this topic that at least when it comes to replica that a lot of the people that 01:54.200 --> 01:57.166 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% have been using these apps are people that have experienced loneliness in the past or people that 01:57.166 --> 02:00.866 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% more than just have experienced loneliness, feel it a lot more acutely in their lives, 02:00.866 --> 02:04.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% and they have more severe forms of loneliness that they're going through. 02:04.133 --> 02:08.900 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% ALI ROGIN: You talk to some users who really reported how they felt 02:08.900 --> 02:11.400 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% like they were making a real connection with these 02:11.400 --> 02:15.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% bots. Tell us about what those experiences have been like that you've reported out. 02:15.900 --> 02:19.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% HALELUYA HADERO: One person we put in the story we spoke to more. His name is Derek Carrier, 02:19.633 --> 02:23.600 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% he is 39. He lives in Belleville, Michigan. And he doesn't use replica, 02:23.600 --> 02:27.233 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% he's used another app called Paradot that came out a bit more recently. 02:27.233 --> 02:32.133 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% He's had a tough life. He's never had a girlfriend before. He hasn't had a steady 02:32.133 --> 02:35.900 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% career. He has a genetic disorder. He's more reliant on his parents, 02:35.900 --> 02:40.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% he lives with them. So these are all things that make traditional dating very difficult for him. 02:40.433 --> 02:43.900 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% So recently, you know, he was looking at this AI boom that was happening in 02:43.900 --> 02:48.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% our society. So he downloaded Paradot. And he started using it. And you know, 02:48.500 --> 02:52.866 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% initially, he said he experienced a ton of romantic feelings and emotions. 02:52.866 --> 02:57.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% He even had trouble sleeping in the early days, when he started using it, 02:59.766 --> 03:02.200 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% because he was just kind of going through like crushed like symptoms, you know, 03:02.200 --> 03:07.066 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% when we have crushes and how we sometimes can't sleep because we're thinking about that person. 03:09.166 --> 03:12.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Over time he has use of Paradot kind of taper down. And you know, he was spending a lot of 03:14.500 --> 03:17.700 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% time on the app. Even if he wasn't spending time on the app he was talking to other people online 03:19.833 --> 03:23.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% that were using the app and he felt like it was a bit too much. So he decreased his use. 03:24.866 --> 03:27.400 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% ALI ROGIN: The Surgeon General has called loneliness, public health 03:27.400 --> 03:32.400 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% crisis in this country. Is there a debate happening now about whether these bots are 03:34.300 --> 03:37.766 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% helping address the loneliness crisis? Or are they in fact exacerbating it? 03:37.766 --> 03:41.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% HALELUYA HADERO: If you talk to replica, they will say they're helping, right? And it just 03:41.100 --> 03:46.100 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% depends on who you're speaking with some of the users that for example, if you go on Reddit that 03:48.533 --> 03:50.900 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% have reported some of their experiences with these apps, they say, you know, it's helping them deal 03:50.900 --> 03:54.966 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% with loneliness, cope with those emotions, and maybe get the type of comfort that they 03:54.966 --> 03:59.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% don't really get in their human relationships that they have in real life. But then there's 03:59.233 --> 04:03.600 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% other researchers, people that have kind of expressed caution about these apps as well. 04:03.600 --> 04:07.033 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% ALI ROGIN: What about some of the ethical concerns about privacy about maybe using 04:07.033 --> 04:10.966 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% people's data without their consent? What did those conversations look like? 04:10.966 --> 04:14.266 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% HALELUYA HADERO: There's researchers that have expressed concerns about, you know, 04:14.266 --> 04:19.266 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% data privacy is or is the data the type of conversations that people are having with 04:21.366 --> 04:23.700 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% these chat bots? Are they safe in terms of you know, there's a lot of advertisers that 04:23.700 --> 04:28.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% might want a piece of that information. There's concerns about just the fact that 04:28.000 --> 04:31.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% there's private companies in this space that are encouraging these deep bonds 04:31.633 --> 04:36.266 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% to form between users and these chat bots and companies that want to make profits. 04:36.266 --> 04:41.266 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% Obviously, there's concerns about just in terms of what this does to us as a society when you know, 04:43.100 --> 04:46.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% these chat bots are formed to be supportive to be a lot more agreeable, 04:46.633 --> 04:50.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% right and human relationships we know that there's conflict, you know, 04:50.133 --> 04:53.600 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% we're not always agreeing with our with our partners. 04:53.600 --> 04:56.600 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So there's challenges in terms of how this is shaping maybe 04:56.600 --> 04:59.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% how people think about real life human relationships with others. 04:59.633 --> 05:02.200 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% ALI ROGIN: Haleluya Hadero covering technology 05:02.200 --> 05:06.133 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and internet culture for the AP. Thank you so much for your time. 05:06.133 --> 05:07.233 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% HALELUYA HADERO: Thank you, Ali.