William James first framed the automatic sweetheart question in Pragmatism (1955). Suppose you are deeply in love: Every adoring glance, every gentle caress, every tender sigh you will take as signs of your sweetheart’s love for you; everything she/he does will bespeak a love for you like yours for him/her. Then, one day, you discover she/he is only a machine, cleverly constructed to exhibit tokens of love for you; but she/he is not conscious being but a machine, a simulacrum of a sweetheart. Do you love him/her still?

Note: This was an assignment for my history of psychology class, but it has been turned in. The text is quoted from my assignment sheet. I am interested in what other jellies think, not in getting a response for a homework answer.

Topics: relationships, psychology, love, AI, robots, affection, artificial intelligence, sweetheart, infatuation, machine, humanist, behaviorist