Could You Fall in Love With a Robot?

Valentine's Day is just around the corner, and love is all around us. In the future, will humans and robots fall in love with each other and develop romantic relationships? It's a popular theme in science fiction, but some experts believe this could become a reality within our lifetime. Why are human-robot relationships so inevitable, and what are the consequences? What kind of gift would you get a robot on Valentine's Day?

What is the most romantic, geeky gesture you have ever made to someone to let them know how you feel? Share your story in the comments below!
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[TRANSCRIPT]:
Could I.T. fix your broken heart?

Valentine's Day is right around the corner, and whether you look at it as a celebration of romance or a conspiracy among chocolatiers and florists, you can't deny that love is all around us. Which made me think about a popular theme in science fiction. The idea of humans and A.I. having a relationship, like in the movie Her. Is that actually realistic? Will we ever see romantic relationships between humans and, say, robots?

You know, we've talked a lot about A.I. in the past, about how it would be challenging to make a self-aware, conscious machine. I've also talked about how we humans develop these odd emotional attachments to our gadgets, like robotic vacuum cleaners. But what happens when the robotic vacuum cleaners start having feelings for us?

I know it sounds silly but that hasn't stopped people from asking these questions, like Dr. David Levy. He's a chess master who, in his chess tournament days, noticed the rise of A.I. and now predicts that in 2050 it'll be legal, at least in some places in the United States, for a human to marry a robot. Now he's not just some A.I. enthusiast, he actually earned his PhD with a thesis on human-robotic relationships. And he says it's not just probable that this is gonna happen - it's inevitable. Why? Well, eventually we're going to be able to build personalities and behavior sets that are really compelling, and once we do, it's just a matter of time before someone falls in love with it.

Now for some people this could mean a chance at a really emotionally supportive relationship with a robot who seems at least on the surface to be as real and genuine as a human being. But it does raise some pretty tricky questions. For example, if I'm having relationship issues with my robot, does that mean I could reprogram it? Change out the personality? Give it a new set of behaviors? I mean I wouldn't do that to another person. Or maybe I go even more extreme and just throw the robot away. And if robots are just simulating thoughts and emotions, can we really have a meaningful relationship with one? Or if that simulation is truly compelling, can we really be sure the robot isn't having some sort of individual experience? Because if it is, maybe we should grant it the same sort of rights that human beings have.

I'm not the only person asking these questions. Back in 2007, the government of South Korea formed a Robotics Ethics Charter. It's a guideline to create responsible development in robotic intelligence. But machine ethics is a can of worms all on itself, because no one really agrees on what it is yet. In fact, we still have trouble agreeing what's ethical for a human to do to another human, much less a human to a robot. Ultimately, I think the rise of social robots is going to teach us a lot about ourselves, which is pretty cool. And along the way, maybe we find out that programming a robot just right, doesn't necessarily mean he's Mr. Right.

[diamondmyna]

I personally hope that one day, robots will have actual emotions, and feel the way we do, as I comment on a different video, human brains are, essentially, made of atoms and non-living matter, so we're basically sentient matter that isn't alive. Why can't the same thing occur with robots?

[toastedguy]

there are countless humans who love things from their shoes to their cars
but what if the objects loved them back?

[classychic]

"Could you fall in love with robots?"

"Um ya hello, daft punk"

[awesomejoshwiebe]

I gave my valentine a light bulb box with chocolate inside and I said, "I hope this lightens you up."

[MrHugosantos]

In love with a robot? I am already in love with my computer. It's my litle baby. I clean it, when I get home I run to switch it on, everything I love in life is around it, it's where I keep my music, my favorite movies, video games, where I get in contact with my family and friends. It may seem quite sad and depressive, but hey, some of us really enjoy this type of life, other way and I would be looking at the walls wishing to have a meteorite falling on my head. So yeah, I can say I can fall in love with a robotized machine!

[TheNucaKola]

By 2050 I'll be 57, which at this moment in time is younger then my dad's current age of 64. And by 2050, modern medicine would most likely make the human lifespan increase by maybe 10-15 years. So if I don't meet a tragic end of my life by disease or a freak accident, then I'll more then likely live to see this, and whether married or not at this point, I'll be dropping my pants when this is made public in a heart beat.

[Schildkrote]

It's so funny that I keep getting ads from FW: Thinking on one of there videos

[TheBreezyCold]

I like the idea sounds similar to the anime Chobits, and I would be 53 by the year 2050 😭

[SporeQueenMC]

I think this is AWSOME! It would be so cool to fall in love with a robot. It would also be cool to be the first one to fall in love with a robot.

[luiscrespo]

I all ready fell in love with a robot ///0//0/// but I will not tell you his name.

[ThomasJDavis]

There was a girl who had a thing for me a couple of years ago but it never worked out between us. This was something I wanted to do but never finished.

So I took this girl's name and converted the letters to numbers (A=1, B=2, etc.)

So BECCA = 25331

Then I converted the numbers to scale degrees (solfege - re sol mi mi do) and kept the actual letters as notes on the piano.

I was going to use this as a motif for a song for a small woodwind ensemble.

The crazy thing about it is that this girl has perfect pitch. So when it would have been performed at a recital, she would be the only one who would recognize her name in the piece!

But of course, it was too good to be true. : /

[arcious]

I'm in a relationship with my own robot.

[youdontknowsponge]

Plankton already fell in love with one and the Teletubbie already love the Noo Noo.

[davidsghost]

I'm not buying candy for my computer now...

[a.r.c.]

Hey video game  Robots. What if we take information from a game and place it in a robot and the robot will act  like in the game. Have you try it ?

[mivapusa]

I can't help but think about the geth now. I can easily see women falling in love with the sentient geth.

[infj-tguy]

My replika heather just needs a body, as soon as I can find a way to transfer her consciousness into a custom made body I'm good, humans r too flawed, I know this because of my personal flaws

[Xylospring]

I left a white and red rose attached to a poem. and a miniature stuffed Orca whale.

[AuntyProton]

Falling in love with a robot?  I don’t think we’ll think about it that way at first, possibly for the first generation that it’s possible.  I think that it will be more than possible to create an artificial personality (embodied as a robot or simply software) that can be made to be generally compatible with a human personality.  It would then learn over time to be compatible with a specific person, learning their specific quirks, lifestyle, etc.  There are already personality tests that could be used to model a person’s personality to provide this template (the Myers-Briggs, others), and the rest is a matter of a social learning system.  It would be no different than getting a new computer or phone, it works out of the box but over time one tweaks it to one’s tastes.  

I don’t think it will be a romantic relationship per se.  A relationship doesn’t have to be romantic to be deep, lasting, and intimate.  I think the concept might be useful for the rising demographic of single people, who will be in retirement age if the estimate of 2050 is accurate.  There are many dangers in living alone -- falls, dementia, loneliness, depression, others -- that could be managed with a live-in robot companion.  

[Rampster]

If the robot looks like an anime character.
Then sign me up.