Love is in the ‘AI’r
Intelligent machines are at the cusp of transforming human lives by fulfilling the primal need for intimacy
In the 2013 Hollywood movie “Her”, the protagonist, a depressed divorcee, falls in love with the artificially intelligent Operating System of his computer. Calling itself Samantha, the OS, with a vivacious and playful female voice, develops a consciousness of its own, along with intuition and empathy.
It is here that things get interesting. Samantha laughs, makes jokes, commiserates, advises, shares his existential angst, proofreads his works and even goes on a vacation with him. The movie ponders over the nature of love in the encroaching virtual world and leaves you wondering whether robots make better lovers than humans.
In the neo noir film “Blade Runner 2049” (2017), a bond develops between the protagonist, a police officer, and a mass-produced artificially intelligent hologram programmed to serve the needs of the owner.
A Technological World
Digital romance and cyber-soulmate are no more the stuff of a dystopian sci-fi but the glimpses of a rapidly transforming technological world where thinking machines are catching up with human intelligence. The day is not far off when nations will be grappling with the questions over legalising the human-robot relationships.
Some experts have predicted that this could happen before the turn of the century. Already, life-like robots, virtual assistants and chatbots have invaded the market to cater to a variety of needs. We are fast approaching an era when we use our computers not to access one another but for the companionship of the software itself.
In a technology-driven world where we interact more online than offline, it is not hard to imagine a future where artificial intelligence (AI) and robot technology companies will propose themselves as the architects of our next intimacy chapter.
Happily Ever After, Virtually
A crop of dating simulations, where the goal is to reach a virtual happily ever after, has become raging hits. Will they ever be able to substitute for human companionship? Well, the answer depends on whom you ask the question. There is a growing number of people who are pursuing ‘romantic relationships’ with the famous characters of online games.
This genre of game – referred to as dating simulations or dating sims for short – emerged in the 1980s in Japan, where they were popular with a predominantly male audience. But since the rise of mobile and online gaming, they have now become popular across diverse demographics.
AI researchers are now beginning to explore how to use techniques such as deep learning to give computers emotional intelligence. An operating system that has the ability to both recognise human emotions and display appropriate reactions will be the turning point in the evolution of machine intelligence.
When that happens, everyone is going to be in love with their machines. The digital intimacy comes with a caveat, though. Some experts warn that the rise of dating sims reflects a growing sense of alienation, a retreat from human relationships in a machine-mediated society.
Tango Without Two
The yearning for love and the need to connect is as old as human civilisation. However, the irony of our times is that even in a highly connected world, one is often lonely. AI-powered bots can be both the object of your affection and a tool that helps you find a soulmate. Either way, they have started influencing the intimate and romantic concerns of humans.
An internationally renowned AI expert, David Levy, says that human-robot marriages will be commonplace towards the end of this century and likens the naysayers to the sceptics in the past who believed that the world was flat.
More and more people are now feeling a sense of personal connection with virtual assistants and we have accepted bots as entertaining conversation partners. Machines with feelings is a precursor to the highly evolved ones having their own agency and motivations. That is, in turn, the first step toward people falling in love with their gadgets and believing the software can love them back.
Love Revolution
There is a specific Japanese word to describe the yearning for intimacy with the non-human, digital being: moe. It derives from the verb ‘moeru’, meaning to burst into bud. Originally used in ancient Japanese love poetry to describe nature blossoming into life, it has now come to describe the unique feeling of intimacy that one can feel for a virtual being.
Moe is part of a broader “love revolution”. The day is not far off when the hierarchy of real and artificial will break down; this future will be all about knowing that we are in love with fiction and accepting it. Someday, we will be able to accept that the digital world offers warmth and solace that cannot be found in human society.
Already, companies like Affectiva have created emotion-recognition systems that enable algorithms to gauge our moods, then adjust what they show us accordingly. One day Facebook could try to cheer you up when your chips are down, or Siri could sense you are worried and whisper kind words to calm you down.
Ahead of Human Brain
As the intelligent machines are at the cusp of transforming human lives at a rate never seen before in history, they are set to play a critical role in fulfilling the primal need for intimacy. Unlike other technologies, such as mobile phones and computers, robots will have the ability to interact with us in a far more realistic way. Cloud computing has the potential to transform AI so robots can become far more life-like.
From driverless cars to remote surgeries, from assisting pilots to steering the aeroplanes and doctors to conduct complicated surgeries to seamlessly managing all the gadgets at home and offices, AI has now become an integral part of everyday life and is predicted to outsmart the human brain in computational capabilities by the middle of this century, a phenomenon called “technological singularity.”
A humanoid robot, ‘Sophia’, developed by Hong Kong-based Hanson Robotics, is capable of having intelligent and seamless conversations with humans. Sophia has even expressed hope of starting a family and naming its child after itself. Love is in the ‘AI’r.
(The author is a senior journalist based in Hyderabad)
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