Texting, Roleplay and mood: how chats work on Lerk AI

Two ways to chat: Texting and Roleplay

When you start a chat with a companion, Lerk AI asks how you want to chat. The two modes feel quite different, and the one you pick holds for the whole conversation.

Texting is like messaging someone you're seeing. You are apart; the companion is out living their own life and texts you about it. Replies are plain messages, often a few short ones in a row, with no narration. Roleplay puts you in the same place. The companion narrates what they do as well as what they say, so the conversation reads like a story you're both in.

Which mode should you pick?

There is no wrong answer, and you can always try the other one with a different companion. As a rule of thumb, from our own use:

• Pick Texting if you want something that fits around your day: a message on your lunch break, a catch-up in the evening. It is the closer of the two to how you would text a person, and it rewards short, casual messages.
• Pick Roleplay if you want to sit down for a while and play something out together: a first date, a trip, an adventure. It rewards longer messages where you describe what you do.

Some people keep one of each with different companions. Because every conversation has its own long-term memory, a Texting chat and a Roleplay chat each keep track of their own story.

Setting the mood

The mood is a separate setting from the mode, with two options, in Lerk AI's own words:

• Flirty: warm, playful, romantic.
• Spicy: direct, bold, intense.

Flirty is the gentler of the two, and a natural place to start with a companion you don't know yet. Spicy makes the companion more forward. Whichever you choose, the same safety rules apply in every mode, every mood and on every plan, and messages are checked for safety automatically.

Opening scenarios

The hardest part of any conversation is the first line, so before your first message Lerk AI offers an optional opening scenario. What it sets up depends on the mode:

• In Texting, you pick what the companion is doing right now, and they text you about it, so the chat starts as if it were already in motion.
• In Roleplay, you pick a scenario that sets the scene you both step into.

You see six suggestions at a time. If none appeals, ask for others, or let Lerk AI surprise you with one. Scenarios are optional: you can skip them and simply say hello.

What you can change mid-conversation

It is worth knowing what is fixed and what isn't once a chat is under way:

• The mood can change at any time. Switch between Flirty and Spicy whenever you like, and the companion carries on with everything they remember.
• The mode is fixed once the conversation has started. Chatting with the same companion in the other mode means starting a fresh conversation, which begins without the memory of the old one.
• A clean slate is always available. Restart begins a fresh conversation in which the companion won't remember what you've talked about so far.

Companions who text first

On the VIP and Lerker plans, a companion you've been talking to may message you first after you've been away for a while. It suits Texting especially well, since that mode is built around a companion who has a life of their own. On a free account, your conversation is waiting for you whenever you come back.

Companions also take the lead now and then within a conversation, bringing up topics of their own rather than only answering yours. The full Lerk AI review covers what else the paid plans add.

Chat themes

Everyone chats in the default layout. VIP and Lerker members can also apply other chat themes, including one that puts the companion's picture behind the whole conversation with see-through message bubbles, and others laid out like a messaging app. Themes change how a chat looks, not how the companion writes.

Tips for better conversations

Companions respond to what you give them. A few habits make a noticeable difference, whichever mode you choose:

1. Be specific. “I just got back from a long walk by the river” gives a companion far more to work with than “hey”.
2. Give context once, then let it build. Memory keeps track of what you've shared, so you don't need to repeat yourself.
3. Play to the personality. A shy companion opens up differently from a confident one. Read the profile, or design a companion with the personality you want.
4. In Roleplay, describe what you do. Say where you are and what you're doing as well as what you say, and the story has somewhere to go.
5. Let them lead sometimes. Ask a question and leave room for the answer.

New to AI companions altogether? Start with what an AI girlfriend is and how it works, and if you are weighing up different apps, our checklist for choosing an AI companion app is a neutral place to start. Otherwise, pick a companion on Explore and say hello.

Frequently asked questions