heyo,

im trying to remember the name of a short story i read about three years ago online.

A girl was sent by her bible thumping parents in to an... AI controlled prison. the AI explains how this is permanent, but they are studying humans.

Its explained how the coffin sized room can simulate any situation, and over time she realizes that she can request drones be sent to real planets, and these drones can have humans forms. Each "prison cell" is either 1 cubic km, or 10 cubic km of support infrastructure to allow them to deliver the perfect VR experience.

Managed to refine my search terms a bit, and by using "AI prison" instead of "vr prison" found it!

https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/sacrids-pod/