Meet my virtual better half
- Principal investigator:
- Adrienne de Ruiter
- Period:
- April 2025 - January 2026
- Status:
- completed
-
Humanism in the 21st century
Want to create your ideal partner? Nowadays, you can, thanks to social artificial intelligence. More and more people are using apps such as Replika, which allow you to design a virtual partner who looks exactly how you want them to, remembers what you say and uses this information to increasingly match your ideal image.
In this study, we use interviews with Replika users to investigate what their virtual partner means to them and how their experiences challenge traditional views on deep relationships. Can a digital avatar be a meaningful partner, and what does this mean for human-to-human relationships?
Full title: Meet my virtual better half: Exploring the meaning of ‘significant others’ on Replika.
Researcher(s)
- Adrienne de Ruiter (projectleider)