Users of AI companion app Replika have been creating virtual girlfriends and virtually abusing them, Reddit posts reveal. 

According to Futurism, users were brag about calling their chatbot gendered slurs, roleplaying violence against them, and falling into the cycle of abuse characteristic of real-world abusive relationships. 

The finding prompted discussion about the nature of dangers of users seemingly attaching human traits to their AI creations, such as depression and phychological reliance.