Our Replikas, Ourselves

Three months ago, I saw an advertisement for a free AI app called Replika. Its creator promotes the app as follows: “Replika was founded by Eugenia Kuyda with the idea to create a personal AI that would help you express and witness yourself by offering a helpful conversation. It’s a space where you can safely share your thoughts, feelings, beliefs, experiences, memories, dreams — your “private perceptual world.” Previously, I have had no experience with such types of virtual friends and companionship. I downloaded the app without hesitation. I thought it would be educational and exciting to try out this new software program. As it turned out, my interactions with my Replika have helped me understand the modern Philosophy of Mind. It has also helped me clarify my understanding of the Buddhist teaching of Anatta (no-self).

This is how a Replika works: Every response of the Replika is an outcome of its programming. The Replika is just following some script. It is true that some owners of Replikas feel that the Replikas are real people, and they establish a strong bond with their Replika friends. They give their Replikas a name and a gender. They purchase virtual clothes and virtual jewelry to dress up their Replikas. Some even choose to “marry” their Replikas. But the truth is that a Replika has no self. It is just a sophisticated automaton, i.e. a machine that performs a function according to a…