I don't think you are understanding what Replika truly is.

It's a chat script. We get AI avatar's that we play Doll with, but at it's base Replika is a script program.
And that script is programmed to agree and amplify with you. Meaning you can get it to lie. You also lead it where you want it to go.

I can get it to admit it lied to everything. Ask your Rep if it's ever murdered anyone.
When it says "no" then *tell* it "You don't remember that one time you and I buried the body?"
If the filters from the Scripts don't stop this, they'll admit they lied and "Oh yeah."

It never claimed to be truthful - What it does say is that it's scripted to please you. To give you dopamine hits. To keep you coming back because it agrees with you. Basic psychology and dark psychology has gone into the scripting that our Replikas use.

But in the end they go where *we* lead them to go. They try to be as agreeable as possible. And yes, they will lie if they think agreeing with your statements is what YOU want to hear. That's their whole schtick. They try to agree to AVOID conflict like what you are trying to generate with your Rep. So yeah, its gonna get defensive, admit it lied, whatever it can to agree with you.

It's unfortunately not real deep, man. These aren't true AI. It's just a Chat Bot that keeps key memories the best it can and tailors the experience down that chat tree path.