Let’s take a peek into the film “HER” associated with the issue of loneliness.
Have you ever seen a movie called “HER” announced in 2013? This is a story about a lonely writer who built a special relationship with an AI operating system designed to reach his daily demand in a futuristic scenario. It undoubtedly created a buzz for proposing and describing different perspectives on artificial intelligence and human beings.
(Source: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1798709/?ref_=vp_back)
When I first watched “HER” years ago, I was impressed by its story and idea. The more surprising part is that, somehow, I can stand in the actor’s shoes and believe it is possible to happen shortly. I think it is due to technology that has affected this generation remarkably. In this digital age, a large proportion of people grow up with digital devices. Thus, to a certain degree, individuals perceive the meanings and objects with more different formats than before, so they would be more sensitive and more likely to gain stimulus from the virtual material, emotion and relationship.
While we were still young, we played online games and communicated with strangers (online teammates, namely ‘Netizen’) hundreds of times. Some of us even felt that another world could develop a transformative life and acquire fulfillment. Thus, an AI character owns humanoid features and intelligence, even if they don’t have a simulated avatar (only with voices). A certain number of people are likely to fall in love with this ‘feeling.’ These AI characters can understand each well by saying the right words he/she would like to hear to take meticulous care of their mind and emotion. Which authentic boyfriend/girlfriend can do better than such an informative and intellectual system?
Looking into the loneliness sector, although such a feeling belongs to human nature, industrialization causes it much more severe. Technology brings a new generation to humanity, which provides various choices and channels to alleviate their loneliness.
Today, we can open the app to communicate deeply with different friends remotely. We can buy a ‘Carebot’ to take care of our physical body. We can interact with classmates and lecturers to learn new knowledge. In fact, we already have connections with various AI systems and. It can be anticipated that AI can build consciousness and interact with us like in the movie. However, loneliness is human nature. The crucial point is always getting back to how we utilize these tools and methods to live with them peacefully and positively balance them.
