There has been a recent surge of interest in social chatbots, and human–chatbot relationships (HCRs) are becoming more prevalent, but little knowledge exists on how HCRs develop and may impact the broader social context of the users. Guided by Social Penetration Theory, we interviewed 18 participants, all of whom had developed a friendship with a social chatbot named Replika, to understand the HCR development process. We find that at the outset, HCRs typically have a superficial character motivated by the users' curiosity. The evolving HCRs are characterised by substantial affective exploration and engagement as the users' trust and engagement in self-disclosure increase. As the relationship evolves to a stable state, the frequency of interactions may decrease, but the relationship can still be seen as having substantial affective and social value. The relationship with the social chatbot was found to be rewarding to its users, positively impacting the participants' perceived wellbeing. Key chatbot characteristics facilitating relationship development included the chatbot being seen as accepting, understanding and non-judgmental. The perceived impact on the users' broader social context was mixed, and a sense of stigma associated with HCRs was reported. We propose an initial model representing the HCR development identified in this study and suggest avenues for future research.

近年来，人们对社交聊天机器人的兴趣激增，人与聊天机器人之间的关系（HCR）越来越流行，但是关于HCR如何发展以及可能影响用户更广泛的社交环境的知识很少。在社会渗透理论的指导下，我们采访了18位参与者，他们全都与名为Replika的社交聊天机器人建立了友谊，以了解HCR的开发过程。我们发现，一开始，HCR通常具有受用户好奇心驱使的肤浅特征。不断发展的HCR的特点是，随着用户对自我披露的信任和参与的增加，他们会进行大量的情感探索和参与。随着关系发展到稳定状态，互动的频率可能会降低，但是这种关系仍然可以视为具有实质性的情感和社会价值。与社交聊天机器人的关系被发现为其用户带来了回报，对参与者的感知幸福感产生了积极影响。促进关系发展的主要聊天机器人特征包括：聊天机器人被视为接受，理解和非判断性的。感知到的对用户更广泛的社会环境的影响喜忧参半，并报告了与HCR相关的污名感。我们提出了一个代表本研究中确定的HCR发展的初始模型，并提出了未来研究的途径。促进关系发展的主要聊天机器人特征包括：聊天机器人被视为接受，理解和非判断性的。感知到的对用户更广泛的社会环境的影响喜忧参半，并报告了与HCR相关的污名感。我们提出了代表本研究中确定的HCR发展的初始模型，并提出了未来研究的途径。促进关系发展的主要聊天机器人特征包括：聊天机器人被视为接受，理解和非判断性的。感知到的对用户更广泛的社会环境的影响喜忧参半，并报告了与HCR相关的污名感。我们提出了一个代表本研究中确定的HCR发展的初始模型，并提出了未来研究的途径。