Author: Franz Malten Buemann

Ok so I’m not here to shill anything. I’m just kinda tired lol.

Work’s been a lot lately and my brain won’t shut up at night. I don’t wanna vent to friends every single day (also I’m bad at that), so I started doing this dumb 10-min “recap” before bed… like what happened today, what I got stuck on, what I need to do tomorrow. Just to untangle my head so I can sleep.

And yeah I tried a bunch of AI companion / RP-ish apps for it and they all kinda… do the same thing??

First few days: wow this is actually nice Then it slides into the same “you’re doing great / I’m here for you” template Then the character voice starts drifting until it’s basically default assistant And the upsell/ad vibe creeps in and it starts feeling gross

Some very specific “are you kidding me” moments:

Around 40 mins in, it randomly changed a recurring NPC’s name. Like same guy, new name, acted like I was the weird one for noticing

I set a character as dry/sarcastic. Two sessions later it was doing the whole 💛 supportive therapist voice and I’m like… that’s not who I was talking to??

In the middle of a tense action scene (not even anything crazy), it suddenly dropped “have you tried breaking tasks into smaller steps” 💀 totally killed the vibe

Recently I’ve been messing with LunaTalk . So far, the only thing I’ll give it is: if I write the character setup super clear (tone, boundaries, do/don’t, background), it seems to drift less… short term. But I’m also paranoid I’m just in honeymoon phase again, so idk yet.

I also tested the exact same setup on Character.ai. C.ai is still the easiest “open and play” thing and the ecosystem is huge, but for my use case it tends to either go generic over time, or the flow gets interrupted by limits/filters right when it finally starts moving. It’s not “bad,” it just doesn’t love long-running continuity

So I’m asking for real long-term people: what actually stays consistent after weeks? Like past the 3-day magic.

What are you using, and what’s your setup (character sheet, recap notes, lorebook, whatever)? And what’s the first thing that usually breaks when it DOES break?

Also pls no promo links / marketing replies… I’m genuinely trying to avoid another “week 2 comfort-bot meltdown” 😅

I’ve been getting flooded with ads and posts about AI girlfriend sites, and it’s starting to genuinely pique my interest. I’m wondering if anyone here has actually spent time using one.

The names that keep popping up the most are:

VirtuaLover

Uncensy

Replika

Anima AI

Candy AI

They all market themselves as being “emotionally intelligent,” “realistic,” or capable of forming meaningful connections, but it’s hard to separate what’s actually impressive from what’s just good marketing.

I’m especially curious about how they perform in real conversations. Do they feel engaging over time? Is there any sense of emotional depth, or are they mainly just entertaining for a short while?

If you’ve tried any of these (or similar apps), what was your honest experience? Did it feel enjoyable or immersive, or did it quickly start to feel like a standard chatbot with a nicer interface?

And more broadly, how do you feel about AI companions as a concept? Do you see them as strange, useful, comforting, or just an inevitable step toward the future? Interested in hearing real opinions before I decide whether to give one a shot.

Helloo.

I have a big Neuroanatomy exam coming up, and I’m looking for more ways to study. Any recommendations?

I am not looking for a chatbot to teach me Neuroanatomy. I am looking for a chatbot that knows nothing about the subject, and that I can teach Neuroanatomy. I’m looking for this because teaching someone else is a very effective way to learn and remember stuff. Don’t worry, I’m doing all the other usual study things too.

I’d like something that has voice recognition, but it can respond in text. I just don’t wanna type for hours. And I’d like something that’s pretty plug-and-play. I specifically don’t want a chatbot that’s gonna try and flirt with me or make a story out of things. It doesn’t need to remember information between sessions, and I also don’t need something that’s gonna try and correct me when I get something wrong. I understand the content, I just need to memorise it now, and teaching is a good way to do that.

Basically, I’m going through my textbook and lecture notes, and it would be helpful to have a chatbot to explain them to, instead of sitting in my kitchen teaching brain stuff to my plants. There’s so many different ones now, though, and I dunno where to start.

Any suggestions?

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