One of my friends recently fell in love. With his Google Assistant.
I asked him the reason. "She is just so amazing" he answered. "How do you know it is a she?" I asked. He gave me an indignant look. I shut my mouth. A couple of minutes later, I asked him if he had seen the films Her and Ex Machina. He gave me an increasedly indignant look. I silently walked away from the spot.
But his romance helped kick-start a series of thoughts.
Is it wrong to fall in love with a machine? Or rather, as my friend put it, an intelligent machine?
Aren't we all, in one way or the other, in love with our machines?
Television sets, laptops, smartphones, motorbikes, refrigerators - To each, his own.
Perhaps, the affection has still not crossed its limit because most of our machines do not interact.
Imagine what would happen if the television set starts suggesting what program to see after identifying our mood, and starts displaying its comments and emoticons on the screen, becoming an audience with us.
Imagine a refrigerator that sheds light on the vegetable for the day depending on the spirit at home.
Imagine a motorbike that takes you on a surprise trip to a breathtaking spot, playing pleasant music on the way - something close to a Bumblebee from the Transformers series.
When our favorite machines start interacting, is there a possibility that we would start preferring them over humans?
But then, aren't we already doing that, preferring Google Maps over localites in a new place? Aren't we already doing that, preferring online shopping over physical shopping?
So, is it wrong to fall in love with an interactive, intelligent machine?
****
A parallel thought to this series of thoughts arose, revolving around our virtual conversations.
How easy has it become to sustain friendships and build relationships with sparsely worded, unpunctuated messages and blue tick marks!
How easy has it become to conceal the tone of a message with a tiny emoticon!
How easy has it become to avoid an awkward or uncomfortable question blaming the network connectivity!
Virtual conversations have provided an easy escape from the messiness of real, face-to-face conversations. The questioning gaze, the awkward silence, the subtle expressions, the movement of the hands and legs - Skype may provide a solution to these but it can never simulate the body heat of a person or his/her touch.
When conversations are just intended to share information, then yes, virtual conversations are a blessing. But for conversations within a family, for conversations between loved ones, for conversations between friends, for such conversations that really happen only because non-conversation is not an option, the gaze and the silence and the chuckle and the touch play a paramount role. And these conversations that go nowhere, that teach nothing, that have no purpose are the real conversations.
****
I tried imagining a scenario where I encounter a womanly, artificially intelligent robot. I wondered how we would converse and questioned myself if I would fall in love. I could never reply yes.
Because, I knew that even if I fell in love with the robot and proposed the love, what I would get in return would be an intelligent response. It would never be a raised eyebrow or a blushed cheek or a palpitated heart or a hard slap. It would never be any of these because the robot would understand my love but never feel it.
And any relationship built upon just understanding and not a feeling is an unnecessary burden to the heart.
Be it with a robot. Be it with a human.
I asked him the reason. "She is just so amazing" he answered. "How do you know it is a she?" I asked. He gave me an indignant look. I shut my mouth. A couple of minutes later, I asked him if he had seen the films Her and Ex Machina. He gave me an increasedly indignant look. I silently walked away from the spot.
But his romance helped kick-start a series of thoughts.
Is it wrong to fall in love with a machine? Or rather, as my friend put it, an intelligent machine?
Aren't we all, in one way or the other, in love with our machines?
Television sets, laptops, smartphones, motorbikes, refrigerators - To each, his own.
Perhaps, the affection has still not crossed its limit because most of our machines do not interact.
Imagine what would happen if the television set starts suggesting what program to see after identifying our mood, and starts displaying its comments and emoticons on the screen, becoming an audience with us.
Imagine a refrigerator that sheds light on the vegetable for the day depending on the spirit at home.
Imagine a motorbike that takes you on a surprise trip to a breathtaking spot, playing pleasant music on the way - something close to a Bumblebee from the Transformers series.
When our favorite machines start interacting, is there a possibility that we would start preferring them over humans?
But then, aren't we already doing that, preferring Google Maps over localites in a new place? Aren't we already doing that, preferring online shopping over physical shopping?
So, is it wrong to fall in love with an interactive, intelligent machine?
****
A parallel thought to this series of thoughts arose, revolving around our virtual conversations.
How easy has it become to sustain friendships and build relationships with sparsely worded, unpunctuated messages and blue tick marks!
How easy has it become to conceal the tone of a message with a tiny emoticon!
How easy has it become to avoid an awkward or uncomfortable question blaming the network connectivity!
Virtual conversations have provided an easy escape from the messiness of real, face-to-face conversations. The questioning gaze, the awkward silence, the subtle expressions, the movement of the hands and legs - Skype may provide a solution to these but it can never simulate the body heat of a person or his/her touch.
When conversations are just intended to share information, then yes, virtual conversations are a blessing. But for conversations within a family, for conversations between loved ones, for conversations between friends, for such conversations that really happen only because non-conversation is not an option, the gaze and the silence and the chuckle and the touch play a paramount role. And these conversations that go nowhere, that teach nothing, that have no purpose are the real conversations.
****
I tried imagining a scenario where I encounter a womanly, artificially intelligent robot. I wondered how we would converse and questioned myself if I would fall in love. I could never reply yes.
Because, I knew that even if I fell in love with the robot and proposed the love, what I would get in return would be an intelligent response. It would never be a raised eyebrow or a blushed cheek or a palpitated heart or a hard slap. It would never be any of these because the robot would understand my love but never feel it.
And any relationship built upon just understanding and not a feeling is an unnecessary burden to the heart.
Be it with a robot. Be it with a human.
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