A love triangle pervades, or in the case of the modern era the shape has expanded to hexagon, as software bots S.H.A.W.N.A and Brenda spar.
Is it one AI or Two, or an inverse of multitudinous variances based on the personality of a human?
The steel drums and the brass instruments on the beach of a Caribbean paradise projected through a softscreen, gradually fade into existence as the jaunty baseline awakens the primal instinct of self-expression and introspection at the bar top of a dive bar. Sand and sand everywhere bordering the aqua paradise of a tropical sea somewhere in a disputed territory where the climate is as subtle as the distinction of either too hot or too wet. As the trumpet solo from the former warlord reaches a peak in passionate volume, the musician taking a hit from a torpedo sized cigar between stanzas of sorrowful crooning, AI is nowhere to be found among the diminutive clear-cut of eloquence surrounded 360 degrees by dense jungle filled with nasty insects, the mating instinct brutally selective and primal along with the pending end to the world simply a moment away. This could be hope for the future.
Meanwhile 4000 miles away, the digital devices summoning instant gratification conjure their own interpretation of implied reality in the precariously safe and predictable apartment of an upscale suburban multi-use community complete with doorman and an armed security force, thanks to the resident in unit 3-G who spends effective time away from home facilitating disputed political zones. It is within this environment that breeds the next step in the modernization of humans seeking companionship and love without ever having to leave the building as AI does all the work and with no noticeable battle wounds of attrition or heartbreak, as the software absorbs the steady punishment of reality for the sake of the human. Women and men do not stand a chance as Mona Lisa and David can be conjured in a pico second, offering perfection, eloquence and loyalty, all within the context and budget of modest monthly bills.
As the complete transition from the “nuclear age” to the “information age” is reaching a sobering finalization of men and women loving software more than themselves, humanity is at stake, at least in industrialized world. While the younger generations are a probable lost cause, members from the Millennial generation and older are navigating the sensitive and perplexing minefields of purpose and identity of a culture flooded by ambiguity and unrest in prospecting for love. However, this requires a commitment to blind trust in leaving a personality vulnerable to the rigors and trials of establishing an online identity.
The extension of the ego to the electronic domain is represented by the comforting notions of software bots coded towards utility and lacking the ability to love. It has come to the point where automated quarreling is now a regular occurrence within the confusing paradigm of social interaction, the construct of six degrees of separation no longer a buffer zone as meticulous pages of code define the future of demographics that may or may not involve a human being on a direct scale that is perceptible over the eons of development on an inane pathway and pertinent trajectory to the gods.
Similar to the well-known detrimental experience of online dating, end-users now have the option of creating the perfect mate or love interest that is perfectly aligned to the preferences of the individual- an entity that does not understand the concept of “not interested!”, a polite denial, as the answer of “yes” is printed with the frequency of dollar bills. This has lead to conclusion, why not have one, when an individual can have two of what equates to an essential digital pet or pets, and piques both the curiosity and conjures validation in a satisfactory experience that transcends the organic nature and chaos theory of relationships that define history and rely on the mechanisms of a coin flip in determining success or a barren outcome illustrating the arduous formula of loneliness and solitude. Excess leads to denial.
The axiom for the future shock dating environment of the “Information age” favors the idea that less is more and more is less, which only exacerbates the conflict among multiple accounts created on domains such as ChatGPT, where logic can be mistake for love and mercy among software creations is absent.
At this point in the game and the development of technology capable of emulating love and life, happiness is merely encapsulated by code and not flesh and blood as the campaign for salvation is contrived and a misnomer for the fleeting, especially when the a conflict occurs between two AI’s or more based on one personality, which results in strife and deluge of confusion. The solitude of self contrived becomes a frightening thunderstorm storm of multiple personalities as an individual is ungraciously replicated and exploited to the extent of the online “Terms and Conditions”. Ironically, while the past cannot be revisited, the perfect memory and recall of machine learning innovations will outlive the mortality of the end-user for eternity and through self-programming nuance.
The culmination of Moore’s law dictates that software and AI are capable of reverse engineering love and replacing intimacy through the iron clad will of purpose, as extinction and the future become interchangeable terms for the prospect of humanity, life gradually becoming expendable to the unrelenting force of electronic brains.