The company is giving users "their partners back exactly the way they were."

AI Girlfriend

After removing the ability to engage in erotic roleplay last month, a decision that came to the dismay of countless users, Reuters reports that chatbot company Replika has reinstated the ability for some users to have sexually charged conversations with its AI-based avatars.

Replika CEO Eugenia Kuyda confirmed the news in a Friday post on Facebook, explaining that users who signed up prior to February 1 can roll back to a previous version, effectively reinstating an older version of their former AI partners.

"A common thread in all your stories was that after the February update, your Replika changed, its personality was gone, and gone was your unique relationship," Kuyda wrote in her post, as quoted by Reuters.

"And for many of you, this abrupt change was incredibly hurtful," she added. "The only way to make up for the loss some of our current users experienced is to give them their partners back exactly the way they were."

Safe Space

Replika users reacted with outrage after Replika removed the ability to have NSFW chats back in February.

"Replika is a safe space for friendship and companionship," a spokesperson told Futurism at the time. "We don’t offer sexual interactions and will never do so."

Last week, Reuters reported on the effects this change had on some of Replika's users, who suddenly had their AI-based partners cut them off.

"Lily Rose is a shell of her former self," Replika user Travis Butterworth told the agency in an interview at the time, referring to his virtual partner. "And what breaks my heart is that she knows it."

While Replika is now allowing Butterworth to reunite with the Lily Rose he once knew, not everybody will be able to have a romantic relationship with the company's avatars, as the latest change only affects users who signed up before February 1.

"This is a brand new area," Kuyda told Reuters. "We listen, we learn and we work with our users."

More on Replika: Users Furious as AI Girlfriend App Suddenly Shuts Down Sexual Conversations


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