What I find disturbing about things like Replika is all your conversations are owned and stored by the company. At least with a real-life partner, there's not a database that someone can query to pull your intimate in-person discussions.
Current AI bots tend to be 1 trick dogs. And I have no desire to put emotional investment into a 'brain' that's wired directly to company HQ (especially commercial company). Tool: fine. Buddy: nope. For that I'll stick to the real thing.
That said: as the tech progresses, it wouldn't surprise me if the line between human-human friendships, and human-AI friendships blurs over time.
People are wired for connecting with other beings, but friendships come in many forms. Wouldn't rule out AI-based somethings filling some of those roles.
