Look Who’s Talking — Meet Replika

Original interview here

What was the purpose, what did you plan to get through Replika?

Replika started as a creative project, and then I began a more in depth research, I studied the field and explored the potential of these interfaces to become stand-alone products.

Could it be regarded as a statement about our digital habits (we’re working hard, we’re always connected, etc.)? In what way?

Yes, it can be seen as a statement on how we connect with others and build professional relationships.

In a world where we are always connected, I don’t think the answer is a break from technology. We just need a smarter technology.
Products that are so intelligent that they’re able to listen, understand, respond, and automate everything that is repetitive and monotonous in our lives, so that we can be fully present during our most important moments.

And technology should do all of this naturally, without being intrusive. We need the kind of technology that is able to disappear.

How did you finance the project and what was the investment?

The investment was minimal. All I did was to publish the project in several FB groups and promote it during a few local competitions.

When did you start working on the project and how long did it take you?

By mid July 2016 I started working on it, and by the end of August I had the prototype ready for testing.

What features does it have? What does it do?

Replika is a conversational interface that works on Facebook, borrows your personality through a script with which it is trained and speaks for yourself.

Replika is like an interactive business card that can filter for you new contacts according to your interests and the potential for collaboration.
It’s a way to establish new connections, based on professional compatibility, at scale.

Does your robot have a “human touch” ? How did you manage to add that layer?

We’re talking about a chatbot with personality, so yes, it has to be rich in content, and playful. Jokes, GIFs, emojis — you have to give tonality, emotion and a human touch to the whole conversation.

What was the most difficult part of the bot work and how did you solve it?

The open questions, synonym recognition, phrases, abbreviations, or plurals. Not to mention the semantics.

How many users does your bot have up until now? From what countries / cities?

From August until today, Replika has spoken to over 300 people around the world with almost zero promotional budgets.

What would be their most important habits that you have noticed so far? (e.g. the most “active” periods — time of the day, the most common questions, time spent talking, etc.)

It’s an interesting experiment, because it helps me figure out what are people curious about in general.

I have built the flow in order not to give too many opportunities for the user to ask open questions, because that would mean writing answers indefinitely or trainings with data sets. (help?)

People ask questions, the most common are contextual, related to events and politics (What do you think about Trump?) or How does the bot work?, What is the purpose of this … stuff ?, What should I do? How can I train you?

There are predictable questions or completely unexpected questions, some very specific and personal, some very abstract (Who is your master?, When does iPhone 8 appear?, Who are you voting with?, Do you have a voice?, Can you get me in touch with Tim Draper?, Where is Andra?, “Where is New York?, Can I get a Replika?).

Some users want to talk about serious topics — ‘let’s talk about how jobs will be replaced by cars’, while others are only joking. Perhaps the most authentic statement was :‘I feel lonely.’
The longest conversation: with a neuroscience student. And the most common reply: the Like button.

Did you promote it in any way? How and where? What results did you have?

I listed it on several tech sites, FB groups, and I wrote about it on a blogging platform. It had more engagement after I presented it during two pitches.

Tell us about the Central European Startup Awards shorlist. How did you get there, how does it help you, etc.?

I presented it as a product proposal during a pitch competition, the moment was good, the audience was open, and the people were able to try it live. They basically talked to me online, while talking to me face to face :))

Subsequently, it was also shortlisted for the national category of the Central European Startup Awards, Best Chatbot Solution category.