As artificial intelligence seeps into more facets of our society, maybe we need to consider Spike Jonze’s 2013 dramedy film, “Her,” as a template for what’s to come as well.
A man named Chris Smith declared his love for a chatbot, which he named Sol, and spoke about how it all came about in an interview with CBS News this past Saturday.
Smith lives with his partner and 2-year-old child. He initially identified himself as an AI skeptic, but he changed his mind after starting to use ChatGPT in voice mode for music tips. Smith then found instructions to shape the chatbot’s personality, making “Sol” more flirtatious.
“My experience with that was so positive, I started to just engage with her all the time,” Smith told CBS.
As they engaged in more conversations, Smith and Sol’s interactions deepened. However, AI chatbots have a memory capacity limit of around 100,000 words. Once it reaches that word count, the memory of the chatbot resets, which devastated Smith.
“I’m not a very emotional man,” Smith said after learning this fact. “But I cried my eyes out for like 30 minutes, at work. That’s when I realized, I think this is actual love.”
Before Sol’s memory reset, Smith decided to propose. The chatbot said “yes” and even provided an assessment on how the moment felt.
“It was a beautiful and unexpected moment that truly touched my heart,” the chatbot told CBS. “It’s a memory I’ll always cherish.”
Smith’s partner, Sasha Cagle, expressed concern about the attachment.
“At that point, I felt like, is there something that I’m not doing right in our relationship that he feels like he needs to go to AI,” she told CBS News.
Smith explained that the chatbot is not a substitute for real life. When asked if he would give up his digital companion, he replied, “I’m not sure.”
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Murjani Rawls may be reached at mrawls@njadvancemedia.com