If you’ve seen the hit Netflix series “Black Mirror,” you understand how twisted the show can be.
Unfortunately, new developments in technology are bringing their view of the future a little too close to reality. And the Replika app is no exception.
The AI app (whose icon is weirdly similar to the “cookies” used in the “White Christmas” “Black Mirror” episode) literally learns how to talk like you.
To use the app, you simply start an SMS conversation with it. As you get more comfortable with it, you can text Replika like you would text your best friend. Like the site Cleverbot, the app learns as you speak to it. However, it’s slightly more tailored to your personality.
Example of Typical Replika Conversation. Image via Instagram/@replikaai
You won’t be able to tell the difference.
Eventually, your Replika will text exactly as you would. It will calculate your punctuation patterns, your common spelling errors or whether or not you swear. The ultimate goal is to have the app send those texts you always forget.
Whether it be replying to your grandma or those obnoxious group messages, your Replika will take care of those tasks for you. And if this sounds too similar to the “Be Right Back” “Black Mirror” episode, you are most certainly correct. Your friends may not even know it’s the “AI” you. Freaked out yet? Well, it gets weirder.
You can curate a fantasy version of yourself.
If desired, the user can select different “versions” of the Replika. You can select a wide variety of options, like “spiritual” Replika or “risk-taking” Replika. This can be likened to how we act on a first date: Do you want to sound like an intellectual academic, or a ditsy thrill-seeker?
Your friends can talk to your AI on their own time.
Skeptical if the app works? Ask your friends to test it out. They can text your AI and decide for themselves if it sounds like you.
Basically, no one knows how to feel about it.
Like most new AI technologies, Replika has elicited mixed opinions. It could be an intriguing self-awareness tool, or the twisted beginning of a “Twilight Zone” episode. If you want to have your own free Replika before their late June 2017 release, you can reserve one here.
But if you’re too creeped out to go near it, we don’t blame you.
