Data · dataset · 2026
Meet My Virtual Better Half: Exploring the meaning of ‘significant others’ on Replika and ChatGPT
Listed in DANS Data Station Social Sciences and Humanities
This study examined the lived experiences of people who develop emotional ties with AI companions.
Description
By interviewing Replika and ChatGPT users who consider their AI companion a close friend or romantic partner, this study examined how these relationships challenge our views of what it means to be a ‘significant other’. For this study, six Replika users and five ChatGPT users were interviewed twice.
Some participants had intensive contact with more than one AI companion. These were counted among Replika users because their main AI companion was on this app. Eight participants considered their AI companion as a romantic partner, while three saw it as a (close) friend.
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Participants were recruited through open calls on social media and through the professional network of the researchers. The interviews followed the method of interpretative phenomenological analysis, which encourages participants to speak in detail about specific moments in the relationship with their AI companion.
Links
Where it is published
- Dataverse dataset page ssh.datastations.nl/dataset.xhtml?persistentId=doi%3A10.17026%2FSS%2FLT9XD5 ↗
landing page · from ssh datastations nl
- DOI doi.org/10.17026/ss/lt9xd5 ↗
DOI / persistent id · from ssh datastations nl
Catalogue records · 1
- Dataverse API ssh.datastations.nl/api/datasets/:persistentId/?persistentId=doi%3A10.17026%2FSS%2… ↗
metadata API · from ssh datastations nl
Topics
- Stated by source
- Arts and Humanities
- From keywords
- Humanities · Social Science
- Inferred from text
- Gender studies 69%
Provenance · 1 source records, 10 field assertions
| Source | Key | Last seen | Raw |
|---|---|---|---|
| DANS Data Station Social Sciences and Humanities | doi:10.17026/SS/LT9XD5 | 4 d ago | JSON v1 |
| Field | Assertion | Extractor | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| concepts[field].anzsrc:group:4405 | enrichment · ssh datastations nl | taxonomy-embedding@1.0.0 | title+keywords+description (69%) |
| concepts[field].dataverse_subject:arts-and-humanities | source · ssh datastations nl | connector:ssh_datastations_nl@1.0.0 | /subjects |
| concepts[field].local:field:humanities | mapping · ssh datastations nl | connector:ssh_datastations_nl@1.0.0 | /subjects |
| concepts[field].local:field:social-science | mapping · ssh datastations nl | connector:ssh_datastations_nl@1.0.0 | /subjects |
| created_date | source · ssh datastations nl | connector:ssh_datastations_nl@1.0.0 | |
| description | source · ssh datastations nl | connector:ssh_datastations_nl@1.0.0 | /description |
| publication_date | source · ssh datastations nl | connector:ssh_datastations_nl@1.0.0 | |
| title | source · ssh datastations nl | connector:ssh_datastations_nl@1.0.0 | /name |
| updated_date | source · ssh datastations nl | connector:ssh_datastations_nl@1.0.0 | |
| version_label | source · ssh datastations nl | connector:ssh_datastations_nl@1.0.0 |