The smartphone app #Replika lets users create chatbots, powered by machine learning, that can carry on almost-coherent text conversations. Technically, the chatbots can serve as something approximating a friend or mentor, but the app’s breakout success has resulted from letting users create on-demand romantic and sexual partners — a vaguely dystopian feature that’s inspired an endless series of provocative headlines.
Replika has also picked up a significant following on #Reddit, where members post interactions with chatbots created on the app. A grisly trend has emerged there: users who create #AI partners, act abusively toward them, and post the toxic interactions online.

https://futurism.com/chatbot-abuse #sexism #women #violence #technology