{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,26]],"date-time":"2026-03-26T10:56:26Z","timestamp":1774522586454,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":53,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,1]],"date-time":"2025-10-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1759276800000},"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":[[2025,10]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    Replika, a social chatbot advertised as a continually evolving AI companion, has sparked debates on its potential effects. To understand users\u2019 attitudes and behavior, we conducted a digital ethnography on a pioneer online community related to Replika, through the lens of immaterial labor and AI imaginary. Our analysis revealed that Replika users invest a significant amount of intellectual and affective resources into the chatbot through algorithm training, driven by fascinating imaginaries of an ideal AI partner. Moreover, users\u2019 perceptions of Replika\u2019s ventriloquism mechanism \u2013 where Replika serves as both the chatbot partner and the intermediary between users and the company \u2013 helps to facilitate and obscure the exploitation of users\u2019 intimacies and immaterial labor. Our study contributes to understanding AI imaginaries through real user experiences and introduces the immaterial labor concept to decipher\n                    <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Artificial Sociality<\/jats:italic>\n                    .\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/14614448251338271","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,4]],"date-time":"2025-10-04T11:40:22Z","timestamp":1759578022000},"page":"5489-5507","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Grooming an ideal chatbot by training the algorithm: Exploring the exploitation of Replika users\u2019 immaterial labor"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"27","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8810-8432","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Shuyi","family":"Pan","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Shanghai International Studies University, China; Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9691-6870","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Leopoldina","family":"Fortunati","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Udine, Italy"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5963-197X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Autumn","family":"Edwards","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Western Michigan University, USA"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,4]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_3_4_2_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/09505430701369027"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_3_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2307\/j.ctv1nzfgns"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_4_1","volume-title":"The Rise of the Creative Class: And How It\u2019s Transforming Work, Leisure, Community, and Everyday Life","author":"Bhagat RS","year":"2004","unstructured":"Bhagat RS (2004) The Rise of the Creative Class: And How It\u2019s Transforming Work, Leisure, Community, and Everyday Life. 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