can a human being fall in love with a machine?

Question

dose a person need a body for you to have a sexual realtionship or a friend realtionship with it can we create software and hardware for a computer to love us

and can we love the machine we have created jut like anyone else

this idea came to me from raay kizwals book the age of spiritual machines

Answer 1

I think this is a really interesting question that can't be answered in just a sentence or two. Let's see:

Q: Can we be happy with the love of a machine?

A: My answer is yes, sort of. If all you need is to believe that the machine loves you - just as you need to believe your husband, wife, boyfriend, or girlfriend loves you - then it doesn't really matter if that machine truly can feel love. All you need is to *believe* a relationship is there. That is how some 12-year-old girls can become romantically obsessed with celebrities and pop stars they've never met, or some pet owners will insist their hamsters feel genuine adoration for them. However, this doesn't go for all people - many people require more solid evidence that they are being loved, and simply cannot come to believe they have a real loving relationship with a machine (or hamster, or pop star). What you really need is a very convincing machine, which you'll be happy to know more than a few engineers are fiddling around with.

Now, this is working on the assumption that love is a two-way thing. I personally believe that in order to love someone, you must realize that they have real flaws and problems, and love them anyway - and to do this, you must get to know them quite well - or, at least, think you have. If you still think someone is essentially perfect, I don't call that love; I call it infatuation or a "crush".

My point is that the only people who can really fall in love with a machine are the ones who can make themselves believe that the machine has really fallen in love with them, that they "know" the machine, and that they can have an emotional effect on the machine (and vice versa).

In other words, people who can fall in love with the idea of a person, or the idea of love, rather than only actual love or an actual person. We all do this to some extent - falling in love with ideas, that is - but to love a machine, you must surrender to this completely.

Again, the better the technology, the easier this would be, and the more people could do it.

Q: Can we create a machine that loves us?

A: The simple answer is no (sort of), machines are not capable of emotional feelings because they don't have the organic brains, chemicals, and neurotransmitters that we do which allow us to feel. You'd be surprise how much engineering is required to create emotion: it's insanely complex, and in fact, has yet to be done. The best we can do so far is simulate emotion as closely as possible. In other words, design machines that can pretend to have normal human emotions.

However, if you change how you think of "emotion", the answer can be yes! For example, let's take a primary emotion (one that doesn't require thinking, really) like fear. Fear is, for the most part, a different set of behaviours and body norms based on a situation. When you're afraid - let's say a gun is pointed at your face - your heart speeds up, adrenaline charges into your system, your eyes get wider, and so forth. Whatever it takes to prepare you for fighting or running away!

You can certainly program that into a computer: design it so that when it senses danger, such as extreme heat, extreme cold, very fast movements, etc - it starts revving itself up to roll away, or fight the danger. But is that the same as emotion? And what about secondary emotions, like love, or hate? How would you program a computer to hate something? You could make it have a certain reaction to something, for example, beeping loudly if a dog is near, but is that really hate?

If you can program it, is it really emotion?

Q: So what are you talking about?

A: Basically, the answer to both questions could be yes or no - it depends on what you personally think love or emotions are. If you think you're in love, are you necessarily actually experiencing love? (Many people who went through grade-school romances may say "no!".) Can we fall in love with the idea of being loved by a certain type of person? What are our emotions?

Obviously, I've asked a lot more questions than I gave answers, but that's why your question is so interesting in the first place.

Best of luck exploring the infinite abyss!

Answer 2

Dose? What is dose? A dose is a unit of measurement used when prescribing drugs. What a realtionship. It sounds like a realtor. Is the question, "Does something need a body in order for you to have a sexual relationship or friendship with it? Can we create software and hardware in order for a computer to love us?"

Why don't you use your computer in order to learn to speak English.

Answer 3

Yes. There is 45 year old man in Japan who has a huge collection of inflatable dolls, or some dolls. And he says that he will rather have these dolls as his companions than actual women, because he says women are mean mean, mischievous and hard to understand. Its not machines but the concept is the same, artificial love.

Answer 4

well, i don't know if it would be real, healthy love. It would be kind of pathetic and sad, but if it could be done and that is the only thing that keeps someone from dying of lonesomeness, i guess it's ok. But for some reason I don't beleive that a love simulating computer would fill the void of companionship and lonliness that is required of a social mammal like humans.

Answer 5

lovei s always a two way street and a mechine can't love you back. You can be infatuated with a mechine but actual love does not exist. But the sci-fic you mentioned, isn't it a mechine that deals with phycological problems and the guy dies of electrocution. (I could be thinking of something else). There the mechine pretends to be real woman and guy falls for the image of a woman who claims to love him. It's not the same as falling for a hunk of metal.

Answer 6

If society they wouldn't call it love they would call it more like materialism or idolism since that thing is not a living breathing soul. But personally that sounds wrong to fall in love with a tv or computer. Freaky!!!

Answer 7

Guys fall in love with their cars ; their boats or their motorcycles all the time ; but a human being is necessary for a loving relationship .

Answer 8

Yes, it is possible. Scientists have created social robots, that talk to people and keep them company. I bet they'd be hard to find, and pretty expensive, but once you have one I suppose you could fall in love with it. Although thats kinda weird...

Answer 9

Heck, millions of women are in love with vibrators, so I'd say so. And they don't even have chips!

But the lesson was learned way back by Dr. Frankenstein. Your creation will destroy you.

Answer 10

It sounds impossible. I feel sorry for those people who do fall in love with machines, they must be very lonely people.