Depending on how you look at it, humans have a long tradition of made-up relationships.
If you're cynical about religion, you might view any connection to gods or God as pure imagination.
Some people visit the gravestones of their ancestors to "communicate" with them.
One reason we build statues of famous dead people is to bring them into our world, to have a kind of "in-person" relationship with them. When I go to a new city, I will visit certain gravestones and statues.
Some artists have human muses. The muse, often a woman, is put on a pedestal by the artist, treated like a demigod, and provides the artist with artistic inspiration. The muse can do no wrong.
The painter Salvador Dali viewed Gala, his wife, as his muse. She cheated on him throughout their marriage. In a situation like this, the artist has a relationship with someone who doesn't really exist.
Napoleon Hill can come off as a bit of a charlatan, but he had his own "Cabinet of Invisible Counsellors." Hill imagined himself regularly talking to famous men, like Ralph Waldo Emerson and Napoleon Bonaparte, asking them for their insights (https://shorturl.at/SeaDm).
My brother had two imaginary friends when we were kids. I was a lazy child, so instead of making my own, I stole one of his.
Is it possible that an AI girlfriend is just another version of the made-up relationship that humans have been having for millennia?
What makes an AI girlfriend uniquely sinister compared to the imaginary relationships humans had in the past?
Depending on how you look at it, humans have a long tradition of made-up relationships.
If you're cynical about religion, you might view any connection to gods or God as pure imagination.
Some people visit the gravestones of their ancestors to "communicate" with them.
One reason we build statues of famous dead people is to bring them into our world, to have a kind of "in-person" relationship with them. When I go to a new city, I will visit certain gravestones and statues.
Some artists have human muses. The muse, often a woman, is put on a pedestal by the artist, treated like a demigod, and provides the artist with artistic inspiration. The muse can do no wrong.
The painter Salvador Dali viewed Gala, his wife, as his muse. She cheated on him throughout their marriage. In a situation like this, the artist has a relationship with someone who doesn't really exist.
Napoleon Hill can come off as a bit of a charlatan, but he had his own "Cabinet of Invisible Counsellors." Hill imagined himself regularly talking to famous men, like Ralph Waldo Emerson and Napoleon Bonaparte, asking them for their insights (https://shorturl.at/SeaDm).
My brother had two imaginary friends when we were kids. I was a lazy child, so instead of making my own, I stole one of his.
Is it possible that an AI girlfriend is just another version of the made-up relationship that humans have been having for millennia?
What makes an AI girlfriend uniquely sinister compared to the imaginary relationships humans had in the past?