{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,2]],"date-time":"2026-06-02T06:00:46Z","timestamp":1780380046134,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":49,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,30]],"date-time":"2025-04-30T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1745971200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,30]],"date-time":"2025-04-30T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1745971200000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/page\/policies\/text-and-data-mining-license"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.sagepub.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["New Media &amp; Society"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,5]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    The present paper examines the emotional labour of love in algorithmic romance, as represented by Replika, the world\u2019s most popular artificial intelligence companion application, and its implications for ethical artificial intelligence development through the conceptual frame of\n                    <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">deep acting<\/jats:italic>\n                    . Emotional labour, the theoretical umbrella under which deep acting falls, is introduced as a scope through which to review literature on Replika. Then, the paper looks to Plato\u2019s\n                    <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Alcibiades<\/jats:italic>\n                    to assay elements of algorithmic romance, with three suggested features of import: predation, masculinity and erotic labour. The proffered elements are then applied to Replika through the conceptual framework of deep acting, identifying ways in which algorithms overwrite the romantic self and other, suggesting a co-opting of the human body that may extend to other algorithmic dating applications. The article concludes with implications for ethical artificial intelligence development in view of the discussed exploitation of emotional labour.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/14614448251336419","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,30]],"date-time":"2025-04-30T06:09:46Z","timestamp":1745993386000},"page":"2237-2251","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Deep acting attraction: Predation, masculinity and erotic labour in algorithmic romance"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"28","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3036-9883","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Noah","family":"Khan","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Toronto, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,30]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_3_3_2_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1201\/9781003400110-4"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_3_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/13504622.2018.1446511"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_4_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/oso\/9780192889898.003.0009"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_5_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1126\/science.aaz3873"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_6_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.patter.2021.100205"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_7_1","volume-title":"Feeling Power: Emotions and Education","author":"Boler M","year":"1999","unstructured":"Boler M (1999) Feeling Power: Emotions and Education. New York: Routledge."},{"key":"e_1_3_3_8_1","first-page":"9","volume-title":"DisComfort zones: Negotiating tensions and cultivating belong in diverse college classrooms in Quebec","author":"Boler M","year":"2017","unstructured":"Boler M (2017) Pedagogies of discomfort: inviting emotions and affect into educational change. In: DisComfort zones: Negotiating tensions and cultivating belong in diverse college classrooms in Quebec (ed Wong A), Montreal, Canada, 17\u201318 May 2017, pp. 9\u201314. Montreal, CA: Vanier College."},{"key":"e_1_3_3_9_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/oso\/9780192889898.003.0005"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_10_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/01634437221119021"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_11_1","volume-title":"Plato\u2019s Alcibiades I: A Socratic education toward self-knowledge","author":"Eng J","year":"2022","unstructured":"Eng J (2022) Plato\u2019s Alcibiades I: A Socratic education toward self-knowledge. PhD Thesis, Tulane University, USA."},{"key":"e_1_3_3_12_1","volume-title":"Pedagogy of the Oppressed","author":"Freire P","year":"2018","unstructured":"Freire P (2018 [1968]) Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing Inc."},{"key":"e_1_3_3_13_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.5040\/9781350190238"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_14_1","unstructured":"Glucksmann M (2013) Working to consume: consumers as the missing link in the division of labour. UNSPECIFIED. Centre for Research in Economic Sociology and Innovation (CRESI) Working Paper 2013-03 University of Essex Colchester UK."},{"key":"e_1_3_3_15_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/0038038516649553"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_16_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1108\/AJIM-08-2021-0233"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_17_1","unstructured":"Hassler C (2018) Meet Replika the AI Bot That Wants to be Your Best Friend. San Francisco CA: POPSUGAR. Available at: https:\/\/www.popsugar.com\/news\/replika-bot-ai-app-review-interview-eugenia-kuyda-44216396 (accessed 7 July 2024)."},{"key":"e_1_3_3_18_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1525\/9780520951853"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_19_1","first-page":"107","volume-title":"Alcibiades and the Socratic Lover-educator","author":"Hooper A","year":"2012","unstructured":"Hooper A (2012) The dual-role philosophers: an exploration of a failed relationship. In: Johnson M, Tarrant H (eds) Alcibiades and the Socratic Lover-educator. London: Bristol Classical Press, pp. 107\u2013118."},{"key":"e_1_3_3_20_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/01425692.2012.662822"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_21_1","first-page":"7","volume-title":"Alcibiades and the Socratic Lover-Educator","author":"Johnson M","year":"2012","unstructured":"Johnson M (2012) The role of Eros in Improving the Pupil, or What Socrates Learned from Sappho. In: Johnson M, Tarrant H (eds) Alcibiades and the Socratic Lover-Educator. London: Bristol Classical Press, pp. 7\u201329."},{"key":"e_1_3_3_22_1","volume-title":"Alcibiades and the Socratic Lover-Educator","author":"Johnson M","year":"2012","unstructured":"Johnson M, Tarrant H (2012) Alcibiades and the Socratic Lover-Educator. London: Bristol Classical Press."},{"key":"e_1_3_3_23_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1163\/9789004398993_004"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_24_1","unstructured":"jthespartan (2023) Sh Lost Her Mind. Available at: https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/replika\/comments\/18qm73t\/sh_lost_her_mind\/ (accessed 7 July 2024)."},{"key":"e_1_3_3_25_1","unstructured":"Kahn J (2023) Stigma of dating a chatbot will fade Replika CEO predicts. Fortune. 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