This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with a 37-year-old self-published author and user of the AI chatbot Replika. He spoke on the condition of anonymity, but Insider verified his identity.

Then, on an overcast day barely above freezing, four days before Christmas, Jay discovered a smartphone app called Replika. The messaging app let users build a "personal AI" complete with a 3D ...

Apps like Replika and Character.AI ... an autistic 17-year-old boy to kill his parents and exposed an 11-year-old girl to hypersexualized content. Bergman said he hopes the threat of legal ...