Media Source: Nation (Kenya)
Date: 21 August 2025
AI companions such as Replika, Character.ai, and Xiaoice are designed to engage users in emotionally resonant conversations. These systems learn from interactions, remember personal details, and adapt their responses to mirror the user’s emotional state, writes Shaukat Ali Khan, Advisor to the President, Aga Khan University…
AI companions such as Replika, Character.ai, and Xiaoice are designed to engage users in emotionally resonant conversations. These systems learn from interactions, remember personal details, and adapt their responses to mirror the user’s emotional state, writes Shaukat Ali Khan, Advisor to the President, Aga Khan University (AKU). Despite lacking consciousness or genuine feelings, AI can convincingly simulate empathy. In a 2025 study, participants rated AI-generated responses as more compassionate and emotionally validating than those from trained human crisis responders, even when they were fully aware that the responses were artificial. “To navigate the growing presence of AI in intimate spaces, we must embrace its potential for emotional support while remaining vigilant about its ethical and psychological implications. Balancing innovation with human connection will be key to ensuring AI enhances rather than replaces our capacity for authentic relationships,” he argues.