Antropomorphizing artificial intelligence technologies in the age of artificial sociality: the case of Replika

The paper discusses the problem of anthropomorphizing artificial intelligence technologies that are active participants and mediators in social interactions. The authors consider the Replika app that was designed to serve as a “virtual friend”. Mechanisms of anthropomorphizing Replika are compared to those of a personal laptop. The key question that the authors seek to answer is: how do the characteristics of interaction between the user and the technology affect whether the technology is anthropomorphized or not? The study was supported by RFBR and the Ministry of Science and Technology (Taiwan), project No. 21-511-52002.