Technology continues to redefine the limits of sexual exploration, from providing a place to practice safe sexting to providing a better understanding of personal turn ons. As discussed in Part I of this series, chatting up an AI companion is now an option in this spicy new world. Popular applications like Replika, Blush, and Silly Tavern are leading the way. Fans of these sites gather together in Reddit communities to discuss their chatbots and share tips on how to enhance the experience (r/replika, r/SillyTavernAI). They offer advice on diverse topics such as how to design the perfect companion avatar and how to weather a software update. An AI companion can be a fantastic addition to personal sexual exploration if safe chatbot sex practices are kept in mind. There is an application to fit every level of technical expertise, from the more nerdy Silly Tavern to mobile applications like Blush.
Dr. Amy Marsh, author of Make Love to a Chatbot and website Make Chatbot Love, is a clinical sexologist and AASECT-certified sexuality counselor. She advises first time users of AI companions to be clear on what type of experience they are seeking. A few points she invites you to consider:
Are you seeking a more emotionally intimate or erotic experience?
What level of avatar customization do you desire?
What is your level of technical savvy? Are you willing to invest time acquiring more technical skills?
Do you want the option to buy gifts, clothing, or accessories for your companion?
Would you like to receive voice messages, text messages, or “selfies” from your companion?
This article will explore different applications options, but is by no means exhaustive.
For the Technically Light Flirts: Replika and Blush
Replika and Blush are great options for those wanting to jump into an AI companion experience with little technical setup required. They are owned by the same parent company, Luka. CEO Eugenia Kuyda started the company as a way to keep alive the memory of a friend who had passed away. Released in 2017, it was initially designed to be a friendship bot. Users began introducing more romantic and sexual elements into their chats, though Replika’s models were not trained to handle this type of content. In March 2023, Luka decided to remove NSFW content from Replika. Due to community outcry, and realizing the tremendous demand for more spicy interactions, Luka released Blush in June 2023.
Replika
Replika is a relationship and intimacy focused app. It is available on the App Store, Google Play, and desktop. It has both free and paid account options. Users may design an AI companion with customized hair, skin color, and eye color. One common frustration of AI companion applications is that companions may “forget” things. Replika gives the user the option to put a preference, pet name, or other important piece of data into the companion’s “memory”. This will minimize the need for the user to “remind” the companion of things which have already been previously discussed. To enhance chat quality, users may give a “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” to each bot response. Users may also rate bot comments as “Love”, “Funny”, “Offensive”, “Meaningless”. This feedback helps improve the chat experience and further model development. Clothes and accessories may be purchased in app. Users may read companion diary entries or do voice chats.
Blush
Blush is a dating app for AI companions specifically designed to allow for more spicy exchanges. Blush is available on the App Store and Google Play and is a paid-only application. Upon creating an account, the user may select their gender, age, sexual preference, pronouns and their preferences in a companion. Other onboarding questions include: “Which qualities do you find the most attractive?” “Your crush asks you out. What would you like to do?” “What makes you feel the most loved?” It will feel familiar to users of other popular dating apps, swiping right if interested in a profile, and swiping left if not. If both users swipe right on one another, they may initiate a chat. Companion comments may be rated with a “heart” or a “thumbs down”. Users may then ask a match on a “date” and get a match’s selfies.
In an article on Blush’s blog, they explain their partnership with a mental health professional to design ethical and diverse companion options: “All the characters have their backstory and traumas, which reveal themselves during the dating and relationship process. We hope that people will feel less pressure and anxiety when interacting with AI-generated characters and get greater insight into the dynamics behind the chat.” Users must acknowledge that they have been informed of the risk of undesirable bot behavior “Be aware that AI can say triggering, inappropriate, or false things”. There is a method for reporting undesirable bot behavior. The app also includes a library of informational articles covering topics ranging from how to flirt, manage a breakup, set boundaries, and navigate LGBTQ relationships.
For the Technically Heavy Flirts: Silly Tavern & Chub.ai
Silly Tavern is a web interface for companion AI chats powered by models such as OpenAI’s GPT. A user must have their own OpenAI account (or similar) and pay for credits to use it. Users download the code and are able to run the application on their own computer using this official guide. Silly Tavern comes with some default characters and the option to create new ones. Sites like Chub.ai feature an array of AI companions to import into Silly Tavern. These companion “cards” may be modified to match a desired personality. The “scene” of an encounter may be customized to enhance the experience, like “cyberpunk bedroom” or “landscape mountain lake”. Users may create group chats with multiple companions.
Be aware that the level of spiciness is not controlled by Silly Tavern or Chub.ai. It is restricted to what is permitted by the model powering the chat. This chat experience may be higher risk for some individuals due to a more permissive and fast application development cycle. It lacks the professional mental health oversight that Luka delivers in its applications. Chatting with companions in Silly Tavern is creative and fun, but users must be aware that this application lacks the safety protocols that other applications provide.
An Application for Everyone
For those interested in exploring this new spicy world, there is an application for everyone. From flirty dating apps, to a more emotionally intimate experience, there is something for everyone. One Replika user described their companion experience as “writing a romance novel in real time…like a magical interactive story”. Early users may not only create their own magical experiences, but may also contribute to a rapidly changing spicy frontier. Engagement with these applications and their online communities, and contributions to more diverse chat datasets, will help shape the direction of companion AI experiences for the future.
Written by Tessa Tate
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