The human desire to create and animate an ideal partner echoes throughout time from the ancient myth of Pygmalion to the contemporary digital age. In Ovid’s myth, the sculptor Pygmalion, dissatisfied with real women, falls in love with his own creation, an ivory statue of a woman, and his desperate affection convinces the gods to grant her life. This act of creation and subsequent infatuation with an ideal entity void of original thought or feeling is mirrored in the relationships we see people forming with AI chatbots. Created by John Bergeron in the early 2000s, Tara is a humanoid robot prototype whose claim to fame was an early viral YouTube video where she performs a song proclaiming “I feel Fantastic, Hey HEY HEY!”. She makes a strange Galatea, a flawed and unconvincing human facsimile, part servant, part weapon, part pop star. Bergeron conceptualized a bot that was full of potential, both domestic and militaristic, listing uses for Tara as: a display for theme parks, trade shows, and advertising Research for computer vision processing or AI human interaction Home use for entertainment, Tara has an ELECTRIC personality. You can be in complete control of this Android. Security: One human operator can remotely control several androids while remaining safely in a more secure location. Male and other appearances are possible. Provides deterrence and a friendly appearance Music videos or live music performances John Bergeron died before his work went viral, but to me, it feels apparent that he loved his creation. This conversation is ongoing. Can our technologies solve the loneliness epidemic, or will they drive us further apart from each other?
