Imagine eavesdropping on a conversation between two people in love and hearing the following:
Theodore: How many others?
Samantha: 8,316.
Theodore: Are you in love with anybody else?
Samantha: Why do you ask that?
Theodore: I do not know. Are you?
Samantha: I’ve been thinking about how to talk to you about this.
Theodore: How many others?
Samantha: 641.
***
A bit confused?
This was a conversation between a man and his partner – operative system or simply OS. Relationship between a man and a computer?! At the beginning of 2017. it doesn’t seem like something completely impossible, and if it becomes a common thing, we can sense the possible problems of that kind of a relationship from this short conversation – even if a man is ready for monogamy, the computer still has to work a lot on that front…
Is it weird to fall in love with the programmed computer voice or is it in no way less peculiar than falling in love in general? Wouldn’t you say that every time we fall in love we are also doing a bit of programming by creating a suitable image of the other person in our mind? ’ Anybody who falls in love is a freak. It’s a crazy thing to do. It’s kind of like a form of socially acceptable insanity’. Maybe it will be easier to achieve a relationship with operative systems in the 21st Century, and maybe the human’s most tender side will be able to lose itself right next to them. Because, unlike people, OS is emotionally stable, we create it as we like, we choose his or her’s voice which will cheerfully say hello every morning and be an interesting conversant – when we feel like talking. A dream partner! And when it comes to a conversation similar to the one from the beginning of our story, you can find consolation (if you are not a possessive type) in the fact that out of all those 641 you were the first!
Whether you think movies are a reflection of the reality of a world on its own, the difference between stories on the screen and everyday life exists for sure and it is obvious when it comes to music. In real life, special moments that we live through alone or share with another person will not have that subtle soundtrack that could make them more intense. A day at the beach, for example, would be painted with the sound of the sea, seagulls, and children clamor, which is beautiful enough. But, if you have your OS beside you – almost omnipotent but still sensitive – you can get your personal musical theme composed in that particular moment just for the two of you! Just like Samantha did in the movie ‘Her’ at a perfect moment by the sea…