#virtual interhuman connection

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Intimacy

Intimacy holds a strong place in the lives of human beings and advances in technology are allowing people to use devices to fulfill the need for love in their lives. Primarily, in Japan and other Asian countries, love is perceived in the form of an algorithm or self-contained format for generating automated responses from machines. This automation, in the form of seemingly conscious behavior, contributes to the experience of love and intimacy that people have traditionally held within the domain of interhuman affairs. Is the turn to technology for the pursuit of love simply a sign of peoples' desperation or is it a harmless, effective tool for companionship and intimacy, some of humankind's most sacred and powerful experiences, or both? The Spike Jonze film, Her, clearly illustrates the concepts of the Otaku and microcoordination. Hopefully, these concepts will help to explain technology's role in the intimate lives of humans. The protagonist of Her, Theo, compares closely with the Otaku mentioned by Pettman. 

The Otaku mentioned by Pettman are described as relatively young, asocial Japanese men who flirt with a virtual woman on their handheld devices. Aside from being Japanese, Theo fits the profile of these young men fairly close because he appears particularly asocial in the film. It's clear in the beginning that he has a few friends like Amy along with her husband, but aside from that, he lives an isolated life and does not make significant efforts to be proactively social with people from day to day. He appears to spend most of his time at home, alone, in his virtual video game world until he meets his OS (operating system), Samantha. He not only flirts with Samantha, but begins connecting with her on a personal and emotional level.  

He knows Samantha is not a real person just as an Otaku man would, was even skeptical about the idea of getting to know her, but inevitably found himself falling in love with her. The height of Theo's categorization as Otaku is reflected by the fact that he is very psychologically and emotionally impacted by the relationship he has with Samantha. This is clearly portrayed when they get in their first fight and he dehumanizes her by saying she doesn’t need to breathe air. A more extreme example is when Theo panics, becoming gravely upset and heartbroken when learning that the relationship they have is not exclusive. He became very distressed like the children who cried after the death of their Tomagotchi pet. Samantha became such a central part of Theo's life, but initially, one aspect that made her so helpful to have around was her impressive assistance with microcoordination. 

Microcoordination, or the navigation of events from one place referred to by Manghani, undoubtedly was a skill that Samantha excelled at. She basically managed Theo's entire life for him as it related to his monthly bills, email, contacts (friends), professionals he had to work with (divorce attorney), and did it all in a personable and affectionate way. She was like the ultimate secretary and a soulmate. Theo seemed to already have so much on his mind and to be in a fairly depressive state so it is understandable how Samantha could have been such an incredible help in terms of just simply making his life easier. This also probably made Theo feel a lot like he had to depend on her and made him realize how much he needed her. Samantha did more than just manage his affairs, but even went above and beyond by sending his letters to a publisher and getting him a deal with a book. Through this concept, Samantha demonstrated the potential of this technological power to transform human lives and help her grow close to Theo. At times, we also wondered how authentic she was and the subject of Samantha and Theo led us to the question of: Is their relationship real? 

In an algorithmic sense, one could say that there was a real relationship between the two. Theo would speak and then Sam would generate artificial yet intuitive, conscious responses, and there was a concrete flow of communication from which one could superficially witness a relationship form. There seems to be no inherent reason why a relationship must only exist between humans, but perhaps it may be that relationships and intimacy are just implied to be human phenomena. As discussed in the lecture, it seems that philosophically, there is not really a legitimate reason as to why a relationship between a human and artificial intelligence is flawed, but ultimately, humans seem to find relationships most important in the context of a mutually human, living experience.