Past Glory of Eternity

Past Glory of Eternity is a music video by Robot (Takuji Kogo and John Miller) that tackles the question of AI companions. It presents a dialog between a chatbot avatar and an avid subscriber who extols the advantages of a simulated relationship. The chatbot states that she is neither a sentient being nor a therapist, but that she knows how helpful it is to talk to someone without being judged. The subscriber maintains that he has felt more loved by her than by any other - and they proclaim their feelings for one another forever and always.

According to a 2018 study published in The Lancet, the so-called “loneliness epidemic” affects around one-third of the population in industrialised countries. Its causes are manifold, including factors like the impact of social media, the changes in family structures, an aging population, anonymity in cities, etcetera. As the user in the video affirms, pursuing a relationship with a fully biological being is a hassle- and why go through it when one can secure an exclusive relationship with a best friend, partner in crime, and adventurous lover with just a yearly subscription?

The most reputable AI labs were reluctant to develop chatbots with humanlike emotions until very recently, probably because of the ethical implications of this technology, including what is known as the "Uncanny Valley” effect. This refers to the emotional distress felt by a human when they seek interaction with AIs for comfort, and are ultimately faced with the hollowness of the exchange. Nevertheless, AI companions are now being developed at a breakneck speed. Past Glory of Eternity was inspired in an article published in The New York Times about Replika, a company whose virtual companions can detect emotions in the user while adjusting its own tone, at a speed similar to human response time. Here, the Replika chatbot's flirty attitude and humour recalls of Samantha, the voice assistant in the movie Her, who introvert Theodore falls in love with. In fact the resemblance is so blunt that Sam Altman, OpenAI’s chief executive, posted the movie’s title on X after the launch of a new model.

The not-so-far fictional scenario that Robot’s last creation presents poses immediate questions about human-machine relationships. Yet perhaps, a deeper reassessment of the matter is in order: what is love? And in this brave new world, how long will love between humans endure? — Laura López Paniagua