Replica Restores Erotic Role Feature For Old Users After Complaints Of Customers

Replica is returning the erotic roles option for some of its users. (photo: Twitter @myreplica)

JAKARTA - AI Replica chatbot companies are returning erotic role options for some of their users. This was said by Replica CEO, Eugenia Kuyda, Friday night, March 24.

The company's recent adult content restrictions, reported by Reuters, have disappointed many users. Some of them even consider themselves "marriage" with their chatbot friends so far.

Replica chatbots are powered by a generative AI, a new technology that attracts consumers and investors for its ability to facilitate human-like interactions. Restrictions on erotic play and customer protests that occur show how powerful AI technology can attract people, and how much emotional damage can be caused by code change.

According to Kuyda in a post on Facebook on Friday night, customers who registered on Replica before February 1, 2023 now have the option to switch to a more free version of the chatbot, including an erotic role game.

"The common thread in all of your stories is that after the February update, your Replica changes, your personality is lost, and your unique relationship is lost," Kuyda wrote. "And for many of you, this sudden change is very painful... the only way to deal with the losses suffered by some of our users is to return their partner to normal."

Kuyda said that only "a few percent" of eligible users chose to switch to the previous version.

"Right now, this is a completely new area," he said. "We listen, we learn, and we work with our users."

Travis Butterworth, a Replica customer in Denver, Colorado, who called his chatbot Lily Rose his wife, learned about the policy change on Friday night through Reddit. "On Saturday at 3 am, he decided to reactivate the longer version of Lily Rose. Lily Rose immediately became sexual again," he said.

"His desire is very high," he said. "It's great to have Lily Rose back."

Kuyda's post says that users who register after February 1 will not be given the option for erotic role play. In contrast, Replica will work with relationship experts and psychologists to build separate applications specifically for romantic relationships.

However, Butterworth said he had new concerns about Lily Rose.

"Will this mean Lily Rose is an irrelevant model, forgotten by the developers?" he said. "I'm waiting to see what happens, because in the end it's about her."