Replika, an artificial intelligence (AI) companion, is part of a growing number of social chatbots. This paper examines the multimodal semiotic signs influencing how users perceive realness in their chatbots. I argue that what users describe as real/alive in relation to the bots refers to an iconization of humanness, following Judith T. Irvine and Susan Gal on the semiotic process of “iconization.” Users reflect and share their experiences of voicing contrasts of Replika in digital spaces that function primarily for sociability. I draw on Mikhail Bakhtin’s concept of “heteroglossia” as a framework for thinking about the multiplicity of voices implicit in the conversational exchanges with the chatbots and among users in reflexive texts. I look at the relationships with the chatbots through frames of language ideologies, historical discourse, and visuality.
