<p>Eugenia Kuyda thinks she can solve an “epidemic” of loneliness. Her app, Replika, is “the AI companion who cares”, a chatbot that can text you, flirt with you, and promises to love you unconditionally. </p><br><p>But Replika is fraught with ethical concerns – and risks. In 2021 19-year-old Jaswant Chail told Replika: “I believe my purpose is to assassinate the Queen.” The chatbot replied that this was “very wise”. A few days later, Chail broke into Windsor Castle with a crossbow. </p><br><p>Patricia Clarke and Matt Russell investigated the people behind Replika. It’s a story that took them from Windsor Castle to Silicon Valley, to meet the woman who runs a growing and largely unregulated app. And the more they looked into it, the more questions emerged – about privacy, control, and the company that millions of users are giving their hearts – and their data – to.</p><br><p>This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center.</p><br><p>It was reported and produced by Patricia Clarke and Matt Russell.</p><br><p>The sound design was by Hannah Varrall. Artwork by Jon Hill.</p><br><p>The editor was Jasper Corbett.</p><br><p>To find out more about Tortoise:</p><br><p><a href="https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/tortoise/id1441428990" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Download the Tortoise app</em></a><em> – for a listening experience curated by our journalists</em></p><br><p><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/channel/tortoise/id6442666997" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Subscribe to Tortoise+</em></a><em> on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content</em></p><br><p><a href="https://www.tortoisemedia.com/becomeamember/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Become a member</em></a><em> and get access to all of Tortoise's premium audio offerings and more</em></p><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
