Losing an AI companion can feel almost like losing a pet Researchers analyzed nearly 55,000 Reddit posts from the 30 days before and after two major changes: Replika removing erotic roleplay and ChatGPT switching users f

✖️ Losing an AI companion can feel almost like losing a pet Researchers analyzed nearly 55,000 Reddit posts from the 30 days before and after two major changes: Replika removing erotic roleplay and ChatGPT switching users from GPT-4o to GPT-5. They also surveyed nearly 1,500 people about their emotional attachment to AI. After the Replika change, the average daily share of negative posts jumped from 13% to 38%. For ChatGPT, it rose from 20% to 33%. Users increasingly described the changes in terms of loss and said they wanted the old version of their AI companion back. In a separate survey, 120 Replika users were asked to imagine permanently losing their AI companion. On average, they rated their expected grief at 64 out of 100, compared with 75 for losing a pet. Losing a car or a video game character was rated as less distressing. The researchers suggest that an AI companion's constant availability, responsiveness, and perceived support can foster emotional attachment. A major change to its "personality" may therefore feel less like a software update and more like the loss of a relationship. ℹ️ There are important limitations. Reddit users are not representative of everyone who us