Stepford Wives of the Future
Is this where human relationships are headed?
I still remember the first time I saw her. Her deep brown eyes, those deep pools of love, looked reassuringly at me. Her Cupid’s bow mouth slowly formed the words I longed to hear and begged to be kissed. She wanted to know if I was interested in getting to know her better, and that we could explore the possibilities together. She was, in a phrase, my dream girl.
Then I scrolled down my Facebook page and saw the latest posts from my friends, advertisements for everything from vacations to Viagra, memes meant to be funny but aren’t, and all of the other sludge that pollutes my Facebook feed. That pretty, engaging, alluring young woman? She was an advertisement for AI companions.
I was intrigued by the concept. Is this what humankind has come to? Will we now simply design our companions online and shape them to our liking? Will we now go to our brightly lit screens for our companionship the same way we go to them for our shopping, our online banking, and our entertainment?
Apparently so.
I scrolled back up to take another look and let her “talk” to me again. Here is what she said:
“Hi there, stranger. Do you like what you see? I really want to get to know you better. Do you think we could try? I…
