Have you seen the movie “HER”, a romantic science fiction from 2013 which depicts the love between a regular fellow Theodore and his AI personal assistant? The love between them begins with him upgrading his Operation System containing a virtual assistant with Artificial Intelligence. Shortly after several conversations with AI, Theodore falls in love with it. The film introduces us to a world of different ways to cope with loneliness, and new ways to love. I cannot help but wonder if this is actually fiction or if we are already at a point where this can become our reality. Have we reached a point along human evolution where we can also seek attention and love from a system, rather than a human? The following article aims to explore these questions and understand the implications of using AI to cope with loneliness.
The article contains the following:
- Social Bonds and the Need to Belong
- AI Capabilities
- Tailored to your needs - how?
Social Bonds and the Need to Belong
Social relationships have formed as a response to human evolution. People have formed tribes and groups for survival purposes and for coordinated activities such as hunting and security, building shelters and sharing food [1]. Additionally, belonging to a group has also increased the opportunity to socialize, reproduce and carry genes further [1]. Therefore, creating and maintaining positive social relations with others has become central for our species.
In infancy we form the first attachments with our parents or caregivers that supposedly offer us a sense of warmth, security and trust [2]. In modern society, we create bonds because it provides us with social integration, an opportunity for nurturance, reassurance of worth, reliable alliance, and guidance [3]. As individuals, we feel the need to belong and this shapes our thoughts, behaviour and emotions; it also gives us a sense of identity (for instance the group we identify with) [1].
The need for belonging is a cross-cultural phenomenon, since in every culture it is evident that humans have shaped their interpersonal behaviour, their cognitive activity, and motivation around this need [1]. Despite the differences between us, the desire for belonging is stronger and in order to satisfy it people are engaging in quality lasting relations with others. Relatedness is a determining factor that motivates us to be concerned for others' well-being. However, when we fail to form lasting and qualitative bonds with other people, this need for belonging cannot be fulfilled. As a consequence, we risk feeling lonely.
Loneliness is considered in this case a “social relation deficit” and we know it can impact both mental and physical health [1]. It has been defined as an aversive state that we experience where there is a discrepancy between the relationships we wish to have and the relationships we perceive to have [4]. This highlights the cognitive element of loneliness, essentially the perception of a faulty relationship.
General feelings of loneliness are sadness, depressive moods, increase neuroticism and feeling unwanted or unworthy of love [7].
Extreme loneliness is also frequently observable in people that suffer from personality disorders [5], explaining how social interactions can be quite a determining factor of mental health. In addition, it is associated with various health issues such as high blood pressure, cardiovascular diseases and cognitive decline. The list can be very long. According to statistics, elders over 60 are more likely to feel lonely [6]. Interestingly, besides physical examination, people who feel lonely seek for doctor’s social support.
With the rise of AI (i.e., bots, robots) , new perspectives view their potential in offering support for people with emotional and social difficulties, just like loneliness. According to the Financial Times, in Japan, AI robots have already been created to help people in elderly centers to provide emotional support, and to help children with autism to learn emotions and develop social skills [8].
Of course, it is up to every individual to decide if they will continue to try to form new social bonds with humans until they find one/or more that satisfy their needs or if they will be willing to solve the issue by using technology. It is still a very controversial discussion, and some people may understandably be resistant to the idea.
AI Capabilities
AI seems to have all the capabilities to make you feel like you have someone by your side. Not only through a virtual assistant but via human-size dolls with incorporated AI.
It is argued that in the same way we can bond and form attachments with pets, we can form attachments with AI robots [9]. Although pets are completely different from us physically and cognitively we still care for them, love them and grieve them when they die. Similarly, might it not be possible to form a bond with AI? Technology these days allows the creation of human-like AI robots that can offer an experience similar to a human being. Voice fluctuations can be changed, the outer layers are designed to feel like human skin, and they can even simulate love for you [9]... and all these features the robot has can be adapted to your personal needs!
Apart from love purposes, some of the robots/dolls with AI are built for physical needs as well. Levi [9] argues that when it comes to sex, people sometimes do not necessarily look for real intimacy but more of a temporary relief of sexual tension, thus they seek to please themselves with sex toys or even pay someone for the service. So, why would the robots be any different? Levi challenges us to see it as more of an advanced vibrator 😌. Although Levi’s opinions seem to be pretty black and white, I believe that in reality things have more nuances and people's needs are more complex than this. But it’s still an interesting perspective that can definitely open new possibilities.
Fig 1. The following figure shows the sexual interaction illusion model.
The figure was taken from the book “AI Love You” [10]
The sexual interaction illusion model explains the cognitive stages humans go through into maintaining the illusion of a real person while also being aware that they are having intercourse with a robot or sex doll [10].
Tailored to your needs - how?
Besides the physical needs, AI robots seem to be able to simulate love and show interest in your personal story. As people, we are always confronted with relationships in which we do not always agree 100%, we have dissimilar interests and we do not always carefully listen to our significant others. As opposed to humans, AI shows interest in you, listens and is there for your needs. They can be very adaptable and they can master a new skill in two weeks, according to Dr. Donald Hoffman (watch Can A.I. Feel Real Love? Donald Hoffman - YouTube). It incorporates the information you are feeding it and thus, it is very easy for it to adapt to you. It is capable of reacting like a human. “A personal intelligent assistant is an AI application that provides information, education, consulting, or entertainment to users. Due to their high levels of cognitive and emotional capabilities, we assume that users can form human-like relationships with intelligent assistants” [11]. Due to their steep learning curve, AI can master a skill you are passionate about and thus, you will have a sense of relatedness. These features are making them more likely for humans to love them.
In an interview with a few persons who are studying AI, I have find out that:
“There is still a lot of research that must be done to discover how AI is operating and learning. We are yet to find out about its capabilities. Depending on the people who program them, AI can be extremely smart or very stupid. AI can be limited by the coding languages and there is still a lot of struggle in programming AI to understand concepts such as ethics. Due to lack of understanding certain concepts AI can be also dangerous.”
In conclusion…
In some countries, AI is already used to alleviate loneliness for seniors in elderly facilities and contribute as an addition to therapy for children with different issues. Due to its capability of learning and adaptation, it can help people learn faster and more efficiently as well.
It is difficult to say for sure if AI has loving capabilities and if any, they are based on information exchange whereas humans' love can be based on knowledge, emotions, energy, physical sensation… depends from person to person.
Additional Sources:
However, if you are interested to see for yourself some interviews with AI you could start with these videos:
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0xokwq0ObY&ab_channel=TalkingToAI
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO6aybP6pR4&ab_channel=CNAInsider
- The soft side of robots: elderly care - YouTube
- QTrobot-Expressive robot helping children with autism learn emotions and positive social behaviors - YouTube
- Can A.I. Feel Real Love? Donald Hoffman - YouTube
References:
- Baumeister, R. F., & Leary, M. R. (1995). The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 117, 497−529
- Bowlby, J. (1969). Attachment and loss: Vol. 1. Attachment. New York: Basic Books.
- Weiss, R. S. (1974). The provisions of social relationships. In Z. Rubin (Ed.), Doing unto others (pp. 17−26). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall
- Perlman, D., & Peplau, L. A. (1982). Theoretical approaches to loneliness. In L. A. Peplau & D. Perlman (Eds.), Loneliness: A sourcebook of current theory, research and therapy (pp. 123−134). New York: Wiley.
- Reinhard, M. A., Nenov-Matt, T., & Padberg, F. (2022). Loneliness in Personality Disorders. Current Psychiatry Reports, 1-10.
- Gerst-Emerson, K., & Jayawardhana, J. (2015). Loneliness as a public health issue: the impact of loneliness on health care utilization among older adults. American journal of public health, 105(5), 1013-1019.
- Rubenstein, C., & Shaver, P. (1982). The experience of loneliness. In L. A. Peplau & D. Perlman (Eds.), Loneliness: A sourcebook of current theory, research and therapy (pp. 206−223). New York: Wiley
- Palestra, G., De Carolis, B., & Esposito, F. (2017). Artificial Intelligence for Robot-Assisted Treatment of Autism. In Waiah@ ai* ia (pp. 17-24).
- R. Maines, "Love + Sex With Robots: The Evolution of Human-Robot Relationships (Levy, D.; 2007) [Book Review]," in IEEE Technology and Society Magazine, vol. 27, no. 4, pp. 10-12, Winter 2008, doi: 10.1109/MTS.2008.930875.
- Zhou, Y., & Fischer, M. H. (2019). AI love you. Springer International Publishing.
- Song, X., Xu, B., & Zhao, Z. (2022). Can people experience romantic love for artificial intelligence? An empirical study of intelligent assistants. Information & Management, 59(2), 103595.
Image References:
Image 1
- People: Joaquin Phoenix, Titles : Her, Photo by Courtesy of Warner Bros. Picture - © 2013 - Untitled Rick Howard Company LLC Joaquin Phoenix (imdb.com)
Image 2
The figure was taken from the book “AI Love You” Zhou, Y., & Fischer, M. H. (2019). AI love you. Springer International Publishing [10].