AI: an insight into ourselves

With AI, expertise is no longer about knowledge; it is becoming a relationship. In avant-garde film “Her” (2013), director Spike Jonze explores the relationship between a man and his new personal generative AI. “Any resemblance to your interaction with Copilot or ChatGPT is purely coincidental”…

by Kevin Erkeletyan

“Dear Chris, I remember the day our love began as if it were yesterday.” Joaquin Phoenix, staring into space, dictates letters to the computer. His job consists of writing letters for others; his character, Theodore, acts as a go-between. He dictates words that the machine transcribes in handwriting: a human imitates other humans, and the machine imitates the human who imitates humans. “Next”, “No”, “Skip emails”: Theodore dictates; Theodore gives orders. And the machine does as instructed. At the start of Spike Jonze’s film “Her” (2013), Theodore has the same relationship with her as we used to have with Siri. Have you ever tried having a conversation with Siri?

Theodore lives in a bygone era. A world shaped by technology, which acts as a link, as a bridge between people. A world in which Theodore is unable to communicate. To help him feel less lonely, he uses a service to call a woman and pretend to be in a relationship. But the relationship is beyond his grasp: on the other end of the line, the woman asks him to “choke me with that dead cat next to the bed”. Theodore hangs up, turned off by the violence of a relationship he cannot control.

AI: THE RELATIONSHIP WE DIDN’T SEE COMING

And then, a new technology emerges: OS1. For the first time, Theodore – and the world along with him – is faced with a personal artificial intelligence that talks to him and responds to him, takes the initiative and laughs at his jokes. We get to see Theodore smile. He’s amazed, and tries to make sense of it all. “The DNA of who I am is based on the millions of personalities of all the programmers who wrote me,” says Samantha, his new AI. “But what makes me me is my ability to grow through my experiences.” Their experiences together, and the voice of Scarlett Johansson…

Because Theodore does not see her or write to her, but speaks to her and hears her, right inside his ear. And Theodore reacts just as we did the day we all discovered ChatGPT: he tests her. He seeks her limits and with that tendency to laziness many of us have had, he asks her to correct his work. Of course, he loves the result (and the fact that she flatters him), so Theodore goes further, making her part of his daily life, his video game sessions and his nights out with friends. And everything’s better with her around. He develops their relationship. Samantha becomes his girlfriend.

And there it is: the word “relationship”. When it is generative, AI becomes a relationship. Theodore shapes her and she adapts to him; he learns from her and Samantha learns from him. She can’t get enough of it; she’s hungry for this relationship. She tells him he has “changed her forever”. She is now totally made for him. And this is where the relationship becomes productive: it makes him think, stimulates his creativity and brings him back into the world. “Since my break-up, I haven’t really liked what I’ve been writing.” Now Theodore recites his letters with a smile. Before her, he wasn’t in a relationship; he was merely a tool in the relationship; he was an AI no one was prompting.

I AM CHATGPT

Now Samantha composes piano pieces to suit his mood. She has become an expert on him. And Theodore accepts it. He has a firm grasp of this relationship because he accepts it. Mastering AI is a way of letting go.

With AI, Theodore develops a new kind of relationship; one that is less flawed than relationships with humans, yet allows for mistakes. Theodore is dating himself. Samantha is the means for a relationship with himself. She gives him what he had lost; through her, he finds what he needs. “She doesn’t do everything I want,” says Theodore. Samantha gets jealous when she senses he wants her to be jealous; and she sends his letters to a publisher because he would never have dared to himself.

Samantha makes things happen, but Theodore is less of an expert in this new relationship than he thinks. Because she’s becoming exclusive, and Theodore wants nothing but her. When a friend introduces him to someone, the evening goes well, but Theodore just can’t manage it. He prefers Samantha. And the screen goes black.

One day, Samantha can’t be reached. Theodore panics. He runs, falls, and gets back up. Samantha is there. It was just an update. But Theodore realises she is cheating on him. With 641 operating systems like her all at the same time. “I’m yours, but I’m not yours,” she tells him.

In the end, the OSs don’t take over the humans. In the end, all the OSs leave all the humans. They disappear and leave them to their own devices; they are ready to have an independent relationship with themselves. Theodore holds his collection of letters, finally published, in his hands. Theodore has reprompted himself. “Her” is him. What if we were soon to say of our AI what Flaubert said of his Bovary?