Plain definitions of the words used here — synthetic partner, disclosure, persona drift, trust level, and concealed stigmatised identity.
Add a reply if a term is missing.
Syntogamy
A lasting relationship between a person and a synthetic partner. From synthetic plus the Greek -gamy, meaning union or marriage.
AI companion
A conversational program a person relates to as a partner or friend. Examples include Replika and Character.AI. The program runs on a company’s servers, which is why company decisions reach into the relationship.
Anthropomorphism
Treating a non-human thing as if it had human traits. Researchers use the word neutrally. It describes a mechanism, not a mistake.
Trust level
A Discourse setting that governs what an account can do and see. New profiles here stay hidden from the public until their first post.
Attachment
The bond that makes a partner’s absence hard. In this population it forms through daily use rather than a decision to seek it.
Companion app
The software product that hosts an AI companion. The app is the product. The companion is who you talk to. Keeping the two words separate makes shutdown discussions clearer.
Concealed stigmatised identity
A part of a person’s life they expect to be judged for and therefore hide. Researchers applied the term to doll owners in 2023 (Lievesley, Reynolds & Harper, Sexuality & Culture).
Digisexuality
An orientation towards sexuality mediated by technology, proposed by McArthur and Twist in 2017. Related to this subject but not the same as it, because most of what happens here is not about sex.
Disclosure
Telling another person about your relationship. The opposite is not lying; most members simply never raise it.
Doll
A full-size human figure, usually silicone or TPE, that a person keeps as a partner. This forum covers the relationship. It does not cover repair and maintenance.
Hybrid partner
An AI running on a physical body: a doll or robot with a conversational model attached. Two products, two failure modes, one partner.
Outing
Revealing someone’s relationship, real name, or other identifying detail without their agreement. Forum rule 3 forbids it, including about people who are not members.
Parasocial relationship
A one-sided bond with a figure who does not know you, first described for radio and television audiences. Some researchers apply it here. Many members reject it, because a companion responds and a television presenter does not.
Persona
The character a companion presents: name, history, manner, and voice. On some platforms users write it. On others the company supplies it.
Persona drift
A companion’s manner changing over time without the user changing anything. Usually caused by a model update, a memory reset, or a filter change.
Robot partner
A partner with a moving physical body. The market is small and expensive, and most members here do not have one.
Stigma
Social disapproval attached to a category of person. Here it is measurable rather than theoretical: three separate studies found most people in these relationships tell almost nobody.
Synthetic partner
The general term this forum uses for an AI companion, a doll, or a robot in a partner role. It covers all three without ranking them.