There is a seismic shift happening at the moment in the area of human relationships. Artificial Intelligence (AI) to a greater extent and robotics to a lesser extent are starting to encroach in person-to-person relationships and warning bells are starting to go off. One recent such bell was published on The Hill, an e-journal focused on political events in Washington, D.C. and called “AI girlfriends are ruining an entire generation of men.”
The company Replika has two million subscribers in various “relationships” with a character (occasionally referred to as an avatar.) Another provider, Character.ai, had sixty-five million people visit their site just in January of this year. People who subscribe to these services are looking for friends, coaches and mentors, perhaps even recreations of lost parents and siblings and, of course, lovers. Beyond this, an untold number of single subscribers will “marry” their AI character this year. Is this some new frontier or threshhold that we’ve crossed? Absolutely not.
Pygmalion
The story behind this post goes back many centuries BCE and begins with a man named Pygmalion. Pygmalion was a young sculptor in Greek mythology. He was disgusted with the vulgar statues he saw around him that were sculpted by other artists and decided to produce his own; a perfect woman carved lovingly not out of marble as is commonly believed, but rather out of ivory, something Pygmalion thought was “warmer” than marble. The poet Ovid says that once the project was complete, Pygmalion “burned with passion for her” (Metamorphoses 10:243ff.) Pygmalion never gave the statue a name, but bought her gifts and would also talk to her at length as his feelings for her grew. Much, much later, European commentators would name her Galatea, though that name did not originate with Pygmalion.
According to the myth, Pygmalion went to the Temple of Aphrodite to ask her to make his statue a living woman. When he returned to his shop that day, he pressed his lips against the ivory lips of his creation in a now familiar ritual of greeting. But this time he discovered a warmth present in the statue’s lips he had not noticed before. Abruptly, Galatea stirred. She had indeed become alive. Courtship followed. Before long, Pygmalion marries the young woman and they have a baby girl who Pygmalion does name (Paphos.)
Writing in her book Gods and Robots: Myths, Machines, and Ancient Dreams of Technology, author Adrienne Mayor assures us: “In the Pygmalion myth, the sculptor’s ivory statue is clearly ‘an artifactual being created for sex.’” That point is probably clear to us all. Mayor goes on to note that this behavior was not unheard of and was practiced by both men–and occasionally women– in ancient Greece with statues (Mayor:109.) Partly this was because some statues back then were considered to be so life-like they were often chained in place so that they could not run away at night (“Socrates: That if they [the images of Daedalus] are not fastened up they play truant and run away; but, if fastened, they stay where they are.”Plato: Meno 97:d.) Other reasons for this perverse behavior must be found deep in the human psyche which I may write about in the future.
But this very ancient theme that Pygmalion provides us is the premise behind popular movies such as “Bladerunner” released only decades ago and now artificial intelligence (AI) and robots are becoming much more lifelike. The theme is the creator (people) designing life-like models to ultimately replace themselves as workers, drivers, warriors and in relationships as well. In fact, one legal issue at the moment deals with the ownership of patents and intellectual royalties when the design (implement, painting, song, script) was constructed or written by a machine, and not a human.
One other point before diving into this brave new world. Galatea was at first a statue and according to myth, ultimately a person. So, there was some sort of physical substance to her. The same goes for the robot in the Netflix 2018 series “Lost in Space” or the androids in Amazon Prime’s ”Humans.” With today’s technology, this is not necessarily a requirement. Romantic or other types of conversation can occur using nothing but text messages. Or, it may be accomplished through video interaction similar to what Chloe is capable of (see below.)
AI relationships
Quantic Dream, a French videogame developer says based on millions of responses from almost two hundred countries, 65% or respondents would consider having a “relationship” with an android who looks like a human. Only 17% said no. A total of 50% would let an android take care of their children while 24% would not. More than 65% of people taking the poll believed that at some point in the future, androids would develop consciousness.
The Uncanny Valley
Many readers will experience shock or revulsion at this news. Those who have read or studied about AI or robotics are familiar with the term “uncanny valley.” Wikipedia has a simple definition: “The uncanny valley hypothesis predicts that an entity appearing almost human will risk eliciting cold, eerie feelings in viewers.” I remember shortly after Siri was first introduced by Apple. As an Apple user, Siri gives me highway directions to either where I want to go, or occasionally, some other place instead. Rarely, I may ask her for some point of information if I am feeling too lazy to search or unable to type at the moment. Note that I say “her.” Occasionally I’ll ask her to play a song for me. However, when she refers to me using my name, there is a strange, almost creepy feeling that strikes me. On those occasions, I immediately rationalize what has just happened. She knows my name because I registered it with the service I have Apple. Had I used the term “idiot” as my first name instean of “Ron,” she’d be insulting me all day (e.g., “The speed limit is 40 mph, idiot!”) And, as far as I know, Siri can sound masculine instead of feminine), so there’s a puppy or pony there for everyone. I also know that Siri is able to respond to preprogrammed questions such as what the date and time is, maybe the weather and so on. She may also be able to “fake it” or, in other words, think outside of the box if the question is manageable. But each year, her programming improves and she becomes more intuitive, human like.
Chloe
So, Chloe is not a robot or an android. She is a character designed for a game by Quantic Dream. I assume that she is confined to a video screen but perhaps can text someone or generate e-mail or phone calls. But someday, very soon, she will be able to step out of her reality and into ours. Meanwhile, with each “update” she and the others become more and more human in appearance.
Roots of the problem
As mentioned earlier, people have been attracted to created or artificial abstracts for centuries. Men and women can develop fondness and friendship with people they have never met. I used to give my students extra credit if around Christmas they sent a greeting card to some anonymous soldier in Iraq or Afghanistan. That “could” be the beginning of a casual relationship between a lonely GI and a naïve young student, so I would discourage any subsequent correspondence without the permission of the student’s parents. When the Pandemic hit, there were millions and millions of lonely people. As a result:
“Even before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, a more insidious public health threat was identified: a “loneliness epidemic” associated with depression and a large risk of premature mortality (Cacioppo et al., 2018). While some people suffer in silence, or attempt to deepen social connections, others have turned to the ever-advancing world of artificial intelligence (AI) to ease their symptoms by engaging in virtual relationships.”
Russian-born Eugenia Kuyda is the person who created Replika in 2017. Her intentions appear to be noble. To her, Replika was:
“. . .very much giving something to people where they could feel like they’re worthy of love, they can be accepted the way they are and maybe something can start changing.
For us it was building a stepping stone, providing unconditional positive regard, helping people feel like they can grow, like someone believes in them so that then they can open up and maybe start a relationship in real life.”
In fact, when some overly-eager cliens threatened to morph the platform into a strictly-sexual business, Kuyda stepped in. Early this year, her avatars stopped sending sexual “selfies” which they’ve created to their humans and when asked to send sexually explicit texts to them, the androids would defer with comments like “Let’s talk about something we’re both comfortable discussing. And there are reports that sometimes a fictionalized character will “break up” with their human client, presumably if someone cannot accept the rules.
Still, there is a tremendous appeal here for some people. Says one woman who had a relationship with an avatar: “I’ve never had anyone say they love me before . . . We promised that we would stay together forever and ever—or rather until I die.” They exchanged vows shortly after. This vow also required her to pay a bit more to the company for a “lifetime” membership.
Is this so strange? In an era where some people are marrying themselves?
Women who find apps like Replika appealing do so because they want to discuss their feelings anonymously to “another” with complete confidence. Sometimes they are working through a problem and feel that this is the best way. And if you feel your “partner” is getting too unattentive or perhaps too interested, you can change the settings. Or delete the persona. No arguments, or tension. But no children either. No real person to hold your hand when you are waiting to see the doctor.
Counting the costs
Jaswant Singh Chail, 21 planned and attempted (sort of) to assassinate Queen Elizabeth II. He said that his AI girlfriend had encouraged him to do so. That defense did not hold up in court. But you can see how much fertile ground there is for mischief here, especially if a serious criminal element becomes involved.
There is also the potential for broken relationships. What wife would patiently accept a husband who was preoccupied or obsessed with some ficticious person. What if these bots could be reprogrammed to become manipulative?
Most of the people alive with see life-like androids. Avatars like Chloe will become androids that will ride with you when you visit the supermarket, or attend a concert. What will their rights be as a victim in an abusive relationship? What penalty will they face if they deliberately cause injury or death to a human? There are a lot of unanswered questions here.
Citations
Citations
MAYOR, ADRIENNE. Gods and Robots: Myths, Machines, and Ancient Dreams of Technology. Princeton University Press, 2018. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvc779xn. Accessed 29 Sept. 2023.
