The Sad Story of Replica and AI Love

In today’s digital age, we can speak to almost anyone around the world with just a few clicks of a button. However, even with all this interconnectedness, we’re at our loneliest yet. Why?

Our brains are not built for these large pools of human interactions. Our social psychology is built on small-scale villages where reciprocity and trust became crucial to teamwork and survival.

The digital age allows us to connect with thousands of people every day, but there is little opportunity to build relationships through reciprocity. Instead, being connected without these bonds feels isolated and pointless.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs puts our sense of love and belonging as the 3rd most important need in our lives.

Keep this in mind as we move further through this story. Feeling secure and loved is often understated as a need, but it can have profound effects on our physical and mental health.

It’s easy to see when our need for physical goods, such as food, water, and safety is lacking, yet most of us barely flinch when needing a little love and connection. This phenomenon is perhaps why the story of Replica headed the…