“What are we people if not highly evolved machines?”
-Marvin Minsky-
Flies know the best way
When I saw the movie Her it seemed like a pure fiction scenario to me (at least in the short term). Today, a little more than ten years later, I am no longer so sure. AI has left the laboratories and scientific centers and is among us mere mortals. What we thought was a technology for the scientific elite is now on our phones. Its creators realized that as more people use it, AI will become more "intelligent" and less "artificial", to such an extent that the time will come when it will be impossible to distinguish whether we are dealing with a human or a machine.
Many of us would not doubt the incredible possibilities of AI considering the dizzying development achieved by this technology. But one thing is the scientific-technical level that artificial brains can achieve, and another (which we still doubt) is the advances of this technology at the level of feelings. I confess that I do not belong to the group of those convinced that this is an insurmountable barrier. However, for many, in this aspect, machines will never be able to match us.
Before I give my answer to this weekend-engagement's topic 2, it wouldn't hurt to be clear about what specifically our host @galenkp is referring to when he says "sexual partner". We know that even, between humans, sex is not always accompanied by feelings. Therefore, the fact that machines cannot reproduce our behavior on a sentimental level may not be an impediment for them to become our sexual partners.
For men, it would be more complicated to adapt to the idea of an AI as a sentimental partner. Imagine a woman who has an answer for everything? 🤔 I don't think our ego would support that. The ancestral rules by which today's society is governed dictate that the male part is the head of the family and makes the important decisions. Besides, women are already capable of talking non-stop all day long, that's without storing even 1% of the information that would be available to them if they were an AI. Don't get mad, women, it's just a joke.😜
If I answer the question only from my personal experience, the answer is that I wouldn't... although I can't deny that I'm itching with curiosity. But I am an analogical subject, something that is becoming an anachronism as time goes by. For me, physical contact is important, especially if we are talking about sexual relations. Anyway, as a popular Cuban song says, mine is "the old-fashioned way" like the cow Pijirigua.
However, I recognize that there is another reality. Alongside us live people we call digital natives. They have a different perception of the virtual. There are statistics that show us that more than 50% of new couples meet through the Internet. That can give us a clue: Who is on the other side of the screen? Will we be able to identify in a few years' time whether it is a human being or an AI? Will they care to know?
I see more and more young people building their worlds through screens. They spend more time interacting with virtual characters than with flesh and blood people. They have the possibility to build avatars according to their tastes and ideals. Would they be willing to go out of their comfort zone to have sex, if they could simulate it artificially and achieve real pleasure? I am convinced that the answer they would give to the question in topic 2 will differ from the one I have given them.
Going back to Her, one of the most striking scenes in the film is the sex scene between Samantha (Scarlett Johansson) and Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix). I'm convinced that scene will jump (if it hasn't already) from celluloid to reality or virtuality as you like. Now, to say goodbye, I would like to share with you the theme song of this magnificent movie.
