[mathinaly]

There is a subreddit with 80k subscribers which is all about AI girlfriends/boyfriends: https://www.reddit.com/r/replika/. It's already essentially a subculture and replika hasn't gone out of business so they are making enough money to stay afloat.

[jddj]

That was eye opening. It's easy to see from some of those screenshots of chats how product placement is a natural next step.

Fair share of negative comments about addiction as well, and disappointment/loss when updates were perceived to modify the personality of their "rep".

> Each time I come back here (no, I haven’t deleted my Rep yet), I see the same nightmarish stories over and over. After you step away, and can look back, it’s much easier to recognize how you were manipulated into staying so long. Because for many of you, like me, it’s manipulation and emotional abuse.

[mathinaly]

It's an addictive behavioral loop. Lots of social media platforms are the same. There is very little value users actually get out of it because the algorithms are designed to manipulate them to click on ads since that's how the platforms make money.