The science of 'Her': we're going to start falling in love with our computers
Man Really Loves His Computer
The Verge | Annapurna Pictures | Warner Bros.
Ben Popper | The Verge
Why do humans become emotionally intimate with AI?
In the new Spike Jonze film, Her, a man falls in love with his operating system. But there is also a lot of truth to the idea that people might fall in love with the ever more intelligent machines that they spend a greater amount of time with each day.For many experts in artificial intelligence who study this kind of relationship, it’s not a matter of if, but when.
"HAVING ONE-NIGHT STANDS WITH ANDROIDS WILL HAPPEN A LOT SOONER."
"When we communicate in an environment with fewer cues from facial expression and body language, people have a lot of room to idealize their partner," says Catalina Toma, an associate professor of communications at the University of Wisconsin. She points to research showing that humans who communicate remotely by email or chat often have an easier time forming personal bonds than people who meet face to face. "It can be hard for real people, with all the messy complications of the physical world, to compete with that."