Falling in love with a chatbot: the risks of having a “virtual girlfriend” in 2024
We live in times of change. Ones in which science fiction films and novels, even those that seemed more fanciful, are increasingly closer to becoming reality, if they have not already done so. A fantastic time on a technological level, but one that also presents considerable challenges, some even related to love.
For example, many experts already warn of the difficulties and risks of virtual and Internet relationships. But with people, at least for now. Will 2024 be the year in which people are in danger of falling in love with a chatbot and definitively having a virtual girlfriend? Artificial intelligence, at least, almost allows it.
The thousand faces of artificial intelligence
Not too long ago, films like Her or the more forceful Companion Robot already showed it in the cinema: people in love with artificial intelligence. In the case of the film starring Joaquin Phoenix, without the need for a physical body, even if it was artificial.
The supposed advantages of this type of couples seem endless. For a start, its appearance (although virtual, at least for now), can be chosen down to the smallest detail: hair, build, skin color… And something similar happens with personality. If there are chatbots that even reflect historical figures or psychologists, why not the girl or boy of your dreams?
Of course, these tools, if that’s what you want to call them, would be designed mainly for the user’s enjoyment, so it can be assumed that if one wishes, marital quarrels, confrontations, infidelities and so on would be left out of the equation, if it is chosen like this.
This possibility, in reality, already exists. There are chatbots and artificial intelligences like Replika designed to offer “virtual girlfriends”, with somewhat uneven results. But the big question is, if in just a few months AI seems to have grown so much, what will happen throughout 2024? And in the future? Will virtual girlfriends affect traditional relationships?
The dangers of falling in love with a chatbot
However, there are drawbacks to so-called virtual girlfriends and falling in love with a chatbot, which go even beyond the most obvious of all: the lack of physical contact.
The most obvious thing, in these cases, is the lack of complicity. As much as you can build a virtual couple to your liking, This might be able to simulate empathy, but hardly (at least, for now) this emulation could be convincing after a while.. Something that, in the long run, could lead to boredom or boredom.
And something similar happens with personal growth. Although chatbots can learn conversation patterns, they lack the ability to grow and change over time in the same way that people do. Human relationships evolve with shared experiences and mutual learning, something that is difficult to replicate in a relationship with a chatbot.
Of course, there will be those for whom these drawbacks do not represent an insurmountable inconvenience. Even more so as AI, technology and virtual girlfriends continue to improve. Because if something seems clear, it’s that they will do it. Thus, as much as it sounds like an episode of Black Mirror, the near future appears fascinating and disturbing at the same time.
Yes, also in love.
