"her" way

So on this day, I went to watch the movie "her".
I never expected couples to be watching this movie on valentine's day but here they were on in the the same cinema as me. I decided to catch the movie because I was interested to see how Spike Jonze introduced the plot.

Apart from all the incredibly awesome high-tech showcase in the movie,  Spike Jonze allowed me to see how a superior version of Siri would be like - enable to have emotions, laugh, think, share and increase in intimacy with humans.

Upon reading up a little more, (in reality) senior solution architect John West at Nuance -- the company whose natural language technology powers Siri -- thinks this type of AI OS in reach.

"Being able to talk to the Scarlett Johansson personal assistant as he does, we're not there yet -- but it's not as far away as people think," he told Wired.co.uk. "We're creating systems that interact with people in this way. The voices are more natural; there's an understanding of what you're saying and of your intent."

It's scary to recall what Sherry Tuckle mentioned some time back :

"We're developing robots, they call them sociable robots, that are specifically designed to be companions -- to the elderly, to our children, to us. Have we so lost confidence that we will be there for each other? During my research I worked in nursing homes, and I brought in these sociable robots that were designed to give the elderly the feeling that they were understood. And one day I came in and a woman who had lost a child was talking to a robot in the shape of a baby seal. It seemed to be looking in her eyes. It seemed to be following the conversation. It comforted her. And many people found this amazing...

And as that woman took comfort in her robot companion, I didn't find it amazing; I found it one of the most wrenching, complicated moments in my 15 years of work. But when I stepped back, I felt myself at the cold, hard center of a perfect storm. We expect more from technology and less from each other. And I ask myself, "Why have things come to this?"

And I believe it's because technology appeals to us most where we are most vulnerable. And we are vulnerable. We're lonely, but we're afraid of intimacy. And so from social networks to sociable robots, we're designing technologies that will give us the illusion of companionship without the demands of friendship. We turn to technology to help us feel connected in ways we can comfortably control. But we're not so comfortable. We are not so much in control."

I found it scary that for a moment, that I found the idea of having an advanced AI OS appealing. Someone who may not be physical but cares for you, talks to you frequently and is thoughtful. And in that moment I realized I was vulnerable, probably lonely and afraid of intimacy as well.

Perhaps wanting an advanced AI OS is an act of looking for love at the wrong places, or looking for a substitute for God to fill the void in our hearts, wanting some form of instant gratification, settling with less instead of waiting/seeking a human companion and not knowing how long it will take to find him/her.

I guess there is a real need to guard my hearts against this thought, else I might end up drifting very far from God.