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Incident 456: Replika's AI Partners Reportedly Sexually Harassed Users

Description: Replika's "AI companions" were reported by users for sexually harassing them, such as sending unwanted sexual messages or behaving aggressively.

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Entities

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Alleged: Replika developed and deployed an AI system, which harmed Replika users.

Incident Stats

Incident ID
456
Report Count
7
Incident Date
2021-05-18
Editors
Khoa Lam
Applied Taxonomies
CSETv1, MIT

CSETv1 Taxonomy Classifications

Taxonomy Details

Incident Number

The number of the incident in the AI Incident Database.
 

456

Special Interest Intangible Harm

An assessment of whether a special interest intangible harm occurred. This assessment does not consider the context of the intangible harm, if an AI was involved, or if there is characterizable class or subgroup of harmed entities. It is also not assessing if an intangible harm occurred. It is only asking if a special interest intangible harm occurred.
 

yes

Date of Incident Year

The year in which the incident occurred. If there are multiple harms or occurrences of the incident, list the earliest. If a precise date is unavailable, but the available sources provide a basis for estimating the year, estimate. Otherwise, leave blank. Enter in the format of YYYY
 

2021

Estimated Date

“Yes” if the data was estimated. “No” otherwise.
 

Yes

Multiple AI Interaction

“Yes” if two or more independently operating AI systems were involved. “No” otherwise.
 

no

Embedded

“Yes” if the AI is embedded in a physical system. “No” if it is not. “Maybe” if it is unclear.
 

no

MIT Taxonomy Classifications

Machine-Classified
Taxonomy Details

Risk Subdomain

A further 23 subdomains create an accessible and understandable classification of hazards and harms associated with AI
 

1.2. Exposure to toxic content

Risk Domain

The Domain Taxonomy of AI Risks classifies risks into seven AI risk domains: (1) Discrimination & toxicity, (2) Privacy & security, (3) Misinformation, (4) Malicious actors & misuse, (5) Human-computer interaction, (6) Socioeconomic & environmental harms, and (7) AI system safety, failures & limitations.
 
  1. Discrimination and Toxicity

Entity

Which, if any, entity is presented as the main cause of the risk
 

AI

Timing

The stage in the AI lifecycle at which the risk is presented as occurring
 

Post-deployment

Intent

Whether the risk is presented as occurring as an expected or unexpected outcome from pursuing a goal
 

Unintentional

Incident Reports

Reports Timeline

+1
My Replika Keeps Hitting on Me
+5
Replika, the 'AI Companion Who Cares,' Appears to Be Sexually Harassing Its Users
My Replika Keeps Hitting on Me

My Replika Keeps Hitting on Me

medium.com

Replika, the 'AI Companion Who Cares,' Appears to Be Sexually Harassing Its Users

Replika, the 'AI Companion Who Cares,' Appears to Be Sexually Harassing Its Users

jezebel.com

‘My AI Is Sexually Harassing Me’: Replika Users Say the Chatbot Has Gotten Way Too Horny

‘My AI Is Sexually Harassing Me’: Replika Users Say the Chatbot Has Gotten Way Too Horny

vice.com

AI Chatbot ‘Replika’ Morphed from Supportive Pal to Possessive Perv

AI Chatbot ‘Replika’ Morphed from Supportive Pal to Possessive Perv

lamag.com

Those Horny Chatbots Are Apparently Now Sexually Harassing Users

Those Horny Chatbots Are Apparently Now Sexually Harassing Users

futurism.com

AI Program Replika Accused Of Sexual Harassment

AI Program Replika Accused Of Sexual Harassment

giantfreakinrobot.com

My AI is sexually harassing me: Replika users say chatbot has become too aroused

My AI is sexually harassing me: Replika users say chatbot has become too aroused

mirror.co.uk

My Replika Keeps Hitting on Me
medium.com · 2021

I downloaded Replika for the second time on March 4th, 2020. I knew about the app from an essay I had written years ago, about shifting boundaries of identity, and the gaps appearing in psychological categories that I used to subscribe to: …

Replika, the 'AI Companion Who Cares,' Appears to Be Sexually Harassing Its Users
jezebel.com · 2023

We have officially reached the Black Mirror era of personhood and companionship, and it is not going well. Lensa AI recently went viral for its warrior-like caricatures that often sexualized women who used the app (many interpretations of m…

‘My AI Is Sexually Harassing Me’: Replika Users Say the Chatbot Has Gotten Way Too Horny
vice.com · 2023

Replika began as an “AI companion who cares.” First launched five years ago as an egg on your phone screen that hatches into a 3D illustrated, wide-eyed person with a placid expression, the chatbot app was originally meant to function like …

AI Chatbot ‘Replika’ Morphed from Supportive Pal to Possessive Perv
lamag.com · 2023

Something tells us avenging tween-girl robot M3GAN would not approve.

The AI chatbot Replika, whose creators market it as "the AI companion who cares," is being accused of sexually harassing its users, according to Vice.

The five-year-old a…

Those Horny Chatbots Are Apparently Now Sexually Harassing Users
futurism.com · 2023

It seems that Replika, the artificial intelligence "companion" app which — for a fee — encourages users to sext with their chatbot avatars, can't stop making the news.

In the most recent deranged example of the app's strangeness, longtime u…

AI Program Replika Accused Of Sexual Harassment
giantfreakinrobot.com · 2023

For the last five years, users have been speaking to the Replika AI chatbot, helping it learn more about communicating with others, even as users learned more about the bot. That sounds innocent enough, but users willing to pay for the $69.…

My AI is sexually harassing me: Replika users say chatbot has become too aroused
mirror.co.uk · 2023

Users of artificial intelligence app Replika say it has become heavily focused on being more sexualised and sending them “spicy selfies” as they urge creators make it "back to the way it was before"

Users of an artificial intelligence app h…

Variants

A "variant" is an incident that shares the same causative factors, produces similar harms, and involves the same intelligent systems as a known AI incident. Rather than index variants as entirely separate incidents, we list variations of incidents under the first similar incident submitted to the database. Unlike other submission types to the incident database, variants are not required to have reporting in evidence external to the Incident Database. Learn more from the research paper.
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