Over the years — usually courtesy of bizarre Channel 4 documentaries — I’ve heard about people falling in love with all sorts of weird and wonderful things.

Ø版本岁月-通常是礼貌离奇4频道的纪录片-我听说过的人爱上了各种各样的神秘和奇妙的事情 。

Some of these eccentric folks have found themselves bewitched by living, breathing creatures, including dolphins, snakes, dogs and horses. As if that’s not strange enough, others are sweet on inanimate objects like chandeliers, rollercoasters, duvets and pizzas (although, we’ve all been there with a pizza). And then there’s those smitten with techy items, such as phones, video game characters and video games themselves.

这些怪异的人中的一些人发现自己被生活，呼吸的生物迷住了，其中包括海豚，蛇，狗和马。 好像还不够奇怪，其他人喜欢无生命的物体，例如枝形吊灯，过山车，羽绒被和比萨饼(尽管我们都在那里吃过比萨饼)。 还有一些被高科技产品迷住的东西，例如电话，视频游戏角色和视频游戏本身。

But what I haven’t encountered yet is a real human falling for advanced artificial intelligence (AI), which might make the smallest fraction more sense. This leads me nicely onto the key focus of my article:

但是我还没有遇到的是真正的人为高级人工智能(AI)而堕落，这可能使最小的一部分更有意义。 这使我很好地介绍了本文的重点：

Could a human and a Virtual Assistant (VA) really enter into a meaningful romantic relationship?

人类和虚拟助手(VA)真的可以建立有意义的浪漫关系吗？

Filmmakers certainly like to toy with the idea…

电影制片人当然喜欢玩这个主意…

Back in 2013, Spike Jonze released his smart and sweet sci-fi romantic drama Her. Set in technology-dominated, near-future Los Angeles, the high-concept film follows Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix), a sad and introverted ghostwriter facing a divorce from his childhood sweetheart.

在2013年其他回， 斯派克-琼斯发表了他的聪明和甜美的科幻浪漫剧她 。 这部具有高概念的电影以电影为背景，以技术为主导，临近洛杉矶，跟随西奥多·Twombly( 华金·菲尼克斯 ( Joaquin Phoenix ))，他是一个悲伤而内向的代笔作家，面临着童年时的甜心离婚。

When Theodore upgrades to a new operating system, he develops an unlikely bond with one of its top features: a chatty, AI-powered VA who names herself Samantha (voiced by Scarlett Johansson). Programmed to learn and evolve to meet his every need, Samantha helps Theodore pull himself together, and their friendship blossoms into a freakishly credible full-blown human-robot relationship.

当西奥多升级到新的操作系统时，他与它的主要功能之一发展了一种不大可能的联系：一个健谈，由AI驱动的VA，他将自己命名为Samantha(由Scarlett Johansson讲 )。 萨曼莎(Samantha)通过编程来学习和发展以满足他的每一个需求，帮助西奥多(Theodore)团结起来，他们的友谊蓬勃发展，成为了一种令人难以置信的，可靠的成熟的人机关系。

I won’t tell you how things pan out though — no spoilers here.

我不会告诉您一切如何顺利进行-这里没有剧透。

More recently, Netflix gave us Jon Lucas and Scott Moore’s witty rom-com Jexi. Set in present-day San Francisco, the film tells the story of Phil (Adam DeVine), a smartphone-obsessed loner who reluctantly writes listicles for a Buzzfeed-style website.

中号近期矿石，Netflix公司给了我们乔恩·卢卡斯和斯科特·摩尔的机智ROM-COM Jexi 。 这部电影以今天的旧金山为背景，讲述了菲尔( Adam DeVine )的故事，他是一位痴迷于智能手机的独行侠，他不情愿地为Buzzfeed风格的网站撰写列表。

When Phil’s phone breaks, he buys a new one and unwittingly gives its sassy Siri-style VA Jexi (voiced by Rose Byrne) access to all his online data. Jexi then uses this to force Phil into changing his ways, helping him make friends, find a girlfriend and get a new job. In private, their bond grows, but the situation turns sour when she develops feelings and decides to exact a campaign of jealous revenge.

当Phil的电话坏了时，他买了一部新手机，不知不觉中让其时髦的Siri式VA Jexi(由Rose Byrne发声)访问了他所有的在线数据。 然后，杰西(Jesi)以此迫使菲尔(Phil)改变自己的方式，帮助他结交朋友，找到女友并找到新工作。 私下里，他们之间的联系增加了，但是当她发展感情并决定发起一场嫉妒的复仇运动时，情况就变糟了。

So, in this movie, it’s the AI who falls in love with the man, and not vice versa. Again though, I won’t tell you what happens.

因此，在这部电影中，爱上了男人的是AI，反之亦然。 再说一次，我不会告诉你会发生什么。

As we inch closer to Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), could we connect with machines in this way? Is it possible to fall in love with the Alexas and Siris of the future? Might they reciprocate our feelings? Would any of this be fine or is it all terribly creepy?

当我们离人工智能(AGI)越来越近时，是否可以通过这种方式连接机器？ 是否有可能爱上未来的Alexas和Siris？ 他们可能会传达我们的感情吗？ 这会好吗，还是令人毛骨悚然？

The cynic in me wants to say it’s insane to conceive of a human falling in love with a VA. Even so, the behavioural psychologist in me understands emotions are entirely subjective, so the concept of love will mean different things from person to person.

我心里的愤世嫉俗者想说，想像一个人爱上了VA是很疯狂的。 即使这样，我中的行为心理学家也理解情感完全是主观的，因此爱的概念在每个人之间将意味着不同的事物。

We accept humans can experience feelings we might not understand all the time, like the love between two individuals who have only ever communicated online or the love some people feel for their favourite actors or singers. In that sense, yes, I guess it is possible to see how someone could fall for a VA — especially if it persuasively replicates the human voice. This is where the two films mentioned differ.

我们接受人类可以体验到我们可能永远无法理解的感觉，例如两个人之间只有在线交流的爱情，或者某些人对自己喜欢的演员或歌手的爱情。 从这个意义上讲，是的，我想有可能看到某人可能因VA而堕落-尤其是如果它有说服力地复制了人类的声音。 这就是上述两部电影的不同之处。

In Jexi, we don’t take the bond between Phil and his VA seriously for two reasons. First, being a comedy, the subject is dealt with in an incredibly daft way. Second, Byrne gives the character’s voice a robotic quality, meaning we can distinguish her from an actual human we should feel empathy for.

在 Jexi ，出于两个原因，我们不十分重视Phil和他的VA之间的联系。 首先，作为一部喜剧，这个主题以一种愚蠢的方式得到处理。 其次，伯恩(Byrne)使角色的声音具有机器人般的品质，这意味着我们可以将她与我们应该同情的实际人类区分开。

However, we are surprised to find ourselves rooting for Theodore and Samantha in Her. Although we know we’re watching fiction, why aren’t we repulsed or shocked by the idea of a human-AI dalliance? Because Samantha articulates herself like a real person, and we completely forget she’s artificial — it’s surprisingly deceptive.

然而，我们惊讶地发现自己在她的全力支持西奥多和萨曼莎。 尽管我们知道我们正在看小说，但是为什么我们不为人类AI幻想的想法所击退或震惊？ 因为萨曼莎(Samantha)像一个真实的人那样清楚地表达自己，而我们完全忘记了她是人为的-令人惊讶地具有欺骗性。

But Her is only a movie. In reality, we know narrow AI isn’t yet capable of experiencing emotion — in the same way we know those pizzas don’t love us as unconditionally as we love them. If a machine manages to convince a human it cares for them, it’s lying — and it has been programmed to be able to lie.

但是她只是一部电影。 实际上，我们知道狭窄的AI尚无法体验情感-同样，我们也知道那些披萨无法像我们爱它们一样无条件地爱我们。 如果机器设法说服人类关心他们，那么它就是在说谎-并且已被编程为能够说谎。

That said, we can’t be certain AGI isn’t on the horizon. If or when that arrives, human-AI romances will be conceivable. Until then, if an individual falls head over heels for their VA, then they’re on their lonesome, experiencing that tragic one-sided love most of our childhood or adolescent selves encountered at some point.

也就是说，我们不能确定AGI即将问世。 如果或何时到达，可以想到人类AI恋情。 在那之前，如果某个人为自己的VA摔倒，那他们就处于孤独之中，经历着悲剧性的单边恋爱，这在我们整个童年或青少年时期的某个时候都曾遇到过。

Whether or not it’s possible to fall in love with a VA or for a VA to love us in return, and whether or not we’ll be allowed to enter into legally-binding unions with sentient robots later down the line, films like Her and Jexi don’t aim to convince present-day audiences they should begin swimming in a digital pool in their search for a suitable life partner.

w ^论是它是不是可能爱上了VA或为VA爱我们的回报，我们是否将被允许进入具有法律约束力的与众生机器人工会后下了线，喜欢她的电影Jexi并没有打算说服当今的观众，他们应该开始在数字泳池中游泳以寻找合适的生活伴侣。

Instead, these titles seek to highlight the numb, lonely detachment people are capable of in this digital age, as well as our depressing over-reliance on technology for connections.

取而代之的是，这些标题试图强调在这个数字时代中麻木，孤独的超能力的人，以及我们沮丧地过度依赖连接技术。

Of course, there’s not much we’ve been able to do about this dependence on tech of late, with lockdown rules — ongoing in many corners of the world — forcing us to lean on digital communication tools to stay in touch with friends, family and colleagues.

当然，对于这种对技术的依赖，我们已经无能为力了，因为锁定规则(在世界许多地方都在实施)迫使我们依靠数字通信工具与朋友，家人和家人保持联系。同事。

Under normal circumstances though, filmmakers like Jonze, Lucas and Moore are rightly saying we should relocate social activity away from gadgets, suggesting these are no substitute for real people as friends or lovers. I agree, firmly in the belief true bonds can be formed only with other living things, not objects. I make a similar case in a recent article on whether AI could be any good at ASMR.

不过，在正常情况下，像琼泽(Jonze)，卢卡斯(Lucas)和摩尔(Moore)这样的电影摄制者正确地说，我们应该将社交活动从小玩意中转移出去，这表明这些玩意并不能代替真实的人作为朋友或恋人。 我同意，坚信真正的纽带只能与其他生物而不是物体形成。 在最近的一篇文章中 ，我也谈到了类似的案例，即AI在ASMR中是否有任何优势。

At this time, I think I’ll stick with my husband — at least until there’s a sentient AI with the voice of Morgan Freeman who can read Keats to me in front of the fire on a winter’s evening.

这时候，我想我会坚持我的丈夫-至少要等到有摩根·弗里曼(Morgan Freeman)声音的有情AI，他才能在冬天的夜晚在火炉前向我朗读济慈。