At present, there are tonnes of platforms where people can foster romantic relationships with AI chatbots, such as Replika, Paradot, and Anima. Now, a brand new chatbot has entered the arena, but there’s a twist. Aptly named AngryGF, the new app simulates speaking to a very mad woman.

According to co-founder Emilia Aviles, the app is “designed to help users handle relationship conflicts with their partners, especially girlfriends or wives.” It simulates scenarios where female partners are angry, such as “you put your savings into the stock market and lose 50 per cent of it” or “during a conversation with your girlfriend, you unconsciously praise a female friend by mentioning that she is beautiful and talented.” There’s also an “angry for no reason” option.

Each scenario starts with an initial ‘forgiveness level’, with the aim being to get your angry girlfriend’s forgiveness level to 100 by comforting her via text messages. If her forgiveness level drops to 0, it’s game over.

“Different attempts and words will affect the AI partner’s mood; appropriate words can improve her mood and increase the forgiveness level, while inappropriate words can worsen her mood and decrease the forgiveness level.” According to Aviles, “through this gamified approach, AngryGF empowers users to learn and refine essential relationship skills in a dynamic and engaging manner.”

Speaking to Dazed, Aviles says she came up with the idea for the app after a string of unfulfilling relationships with men. “The inspiration behind creating AngryGF stemmed from a personal journey of recognising a common challenge in my past relationships: a lack of emotional support during difficult moments,” she says. “This realisation, coupled with the observation of similar struggles among many male partners today, ignited the idea for the app.”

“I wanted to develop a solution that would empower individuals to navigate the complexities of love and understanding more effectively,” she continues. “AngryGF emerged as a beacon of hope – a platform designed to simulate real-life scenarios where partners express anger, providing users with a safe space to refine their communication skills and emotional intelligence.”

It’s a nice idea – but will it really work? It’s difficult to imagine any of my emotionally stunted exes responding well to the idea that they should speak to a raging chatbot to learn basic empathy. Still, Aviles is hopeful. “Our male team members significantly enhanced their empathy through testing the app,” she says. “One reason men may not actively seek to improve their emotional intelligence could be the lack of straightforward and engaging methods available. AngryGF is game-like and appealing, which can attract men to engage with it.”

Fair enough. When it comes to sussing out ways to help straight men learn how to care about other people, at this point, literally anything is worth a shot.