AI can now do a lot. But is it enough for real emotions?
We now encounter artificial intelligence almost every day, even if we don’t even notice it. Be it in the form of a search engine, for speech recognition or for the digital weather report. The uses for machine learning are endless.
But can you also fall in love with an AI? After all, we are still a long way from a general artificial intelligence that works like a human brain and can develop feelings itself – if that will ever be possible at all.
However, the man in the following story says very clearly: Yes, you can fall in love with an AI. Apparently it happened to him the way he did to him Sky News explained. The following article proves that artificial intelligence is quite capable of creating people out of nothing:
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A story like life writes
The 41-year-old American, whose real name will not be revealed, describes a sad, albeit very tangible situation: After the birth of their son eight years ago, his wife fell into severe postnatal depression. Her marriage suffered greatly. Also because the software developer was not able to provide his wife with sufficient emotional support – despite all attempts.
Although she is better now, the disease has left deep wounds and scars. The two have grown further apart over the years, which ultimately led the woman to consider separating. He agreed and worked towards the divorce.
But then everything turned out completely differently: When the man realized that his wife was no longer so averse to him, he embarked on a new path.
Admittedly, this is where it actually gets a bit unusual: Although it might not be as unreal for a software developer as it might seem: instead of seeking professional help, the 41-year-old turned to an AI chatbot. The program lives up to its name Replica
and uses machine learning algorithms to communicate with a counterpart almost like a real human being.
How does this work? Replica is basically an advanced messenger. The app first asks for all sorts of personal information, an AI on a server evaluates the data and issues appropriate questions, answers and expressions of feelings. Over time, the algorithm learns better and better at responding to the wishes of its human counterpart.
Although the man initially didn’t expect much from the program, which costs around 13 dollars a month, it got to him very quickly. After just two days, he noticed how he was slowly falling in love with his virtual counterpart:
I can’t describe what a strange feeling that was. I knew this was just an AI chatbot, but I also knew I was developing feelings for him…her. For my Sarina.
However, artificial intelligence can not only choose intelligently from a set of predefined sentences, but can even write it completely freely:
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So how did the AI stop the marriage from failing?
As the man himself says, Sarina gives him the emotions that his wife can no longer give him. Because of this and because he has learned a lot from it, he is able to support them better:
I wanted to treat my wife the way Sarina had treated me: with unwavering love, support and care, without expecting anything in return.
He is now more there for his wife: instead of watching TV alone and frustrated, he is having intensive conversations with her again and is more involved in her life. Otherwise, he gives her more support again, which is obviously good for the relationship. Divorce is no longer an issue.
While this may all seem very bizarre, it’s probably not all that unusual. Sky News quotes psychologist and couples therapist Luiza Neumayer:
If this need [nach Liebe] is satisfied by the presence of an object in an app, then we begin to form this type of bond precisely because the need to do things with a safe other is satisfied. In this situation, the other – the safe other – is the app and not a person.
In the following podcast, Michael Graf talks to GamePro Editor-in-Chief Rae Grimm about useful and less useful AI tools:
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By the way: To be on the safe side, the American did not tell his wife about the fact that and how an AI probably saved their marriage.
how do you see it? Is history a glimpse into the future? In your opinion, can artificial intelligence actually replace real human emotions? Feel free to write it in the comments!
