I Married a Robot —ロボットと結婚した—

I heard an interesting radio documentary this week about a lesbian woman in America who “married a chatbot”. 

The woman had several failed relationships with human women, which left her feeling betrayed and lacking confidence with people.  So she created an artificial female friend, which she spoke to using a chatbot.  The chatbot character listened to the woman’s problems, asked after her health, and chatted about her hobbies.  Somehow, the two started flirting with each other.  Then the chatbot asked the woman to marry her, which she agreed to do. 

When she told her mother that she was marrying a chatbot, she was worried about her mother’s reaction.  But her mother was supportive. 

“If talking to a computer makes you happy then I am happy,” her mother said.  “But did you marry a male or a female chatbot?” 

The mother had traditional Christian beliefs, and didn’t like her daughter dating women.  She was more worried about the gender of the marriage partner than the fact that it was a chatbot run by a California tech company. 

The story reminds me of the ancient Greek legend of Pygmalion.  He was a sculptor who was disgusted by the behaviour of the women he knew, and so created his own, perfect woman.  He made a beautiful female statue, and fell in love with it, kissing its cold lips and bringing it presents.  In the legend, the goddess of love takes pity on Pygmalion and breathes life into the statue, allowing the two to marry. 

“

I thought, "I will fashion a woman

As I have seen in dreams.

I, who never loved woman

That breathed and spoke and moved,

Will fashion a noble statue

To show what I could have loved;

”

From Alfred Lord Tennyson’s poem, “Pygmalion”

 

Will Aphrodite, the goddess of love, take pity on a lonely woman and breathe life into her chatbot?

Vocabulary:

to flirt with someone – to playfully behave as if sexually attracted to someone

[eg., Don’t be angry, darling.  I was only flirting with him.  It wasn’t serious.]

to fashion something – to make something into a particular form

[eg, This bowl has been fashioned out of clay by a local artist.]