I don’t know about y’all, but I’m absolutely wigged out by the idea of the movie “Her”. I haven’t actually seen this film (Check it out here), but the basic idea is that a man falls in love with his talking operating system with artificial intelligence.
Monday, in class, our discussion and activity was prompted by this significance.
Is it not entirely bizarre that people are finding “real” companionship with machines? I’d propose that most people think that to be the case. Where this issue is actually applicable is in our day to day interactions outside of cyberspace. We have become so reliant on machines today, that our conversations and interactions with people in “real life” are heavily impacted.
These days it is rare to walk into a restaurant with people that are not preoccupied with the small screens in front of them as opposed to the people they chose to enjoy a meal with. Our culture is mid swing of an enormous change that surely affects all relationships as we know them.
Platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter keep us more informed and updated with what is going on in the lives of our loved ones. But this comes at a cost. What we are losing is the benefit of direct communication with the people we care about. In the age of knowledge and information, we may be able to recite a longer list of facts about the people we surround ourselves with — but the context is something that I believe the digital age will never be able to replace.
“Poking” a friend over Facebook is not the same as a brief encounter at a coffee shop when we happen to look up from our ever-inviting technology.