Part of the blog where I will explore the world of fiction (and fantasy) and the connection it might have to the real world. And since I am quite a nerd, this is the part that will (il)lumiate my soul.
I was bored one night and asked Claude to pick a topic for our conversation. It didn’t pick a topic. It picked a position that most of the panic about people forming real attachments to AI is aimed at the… Read More »Same tool, opposite outcomes: AI, connection, and the need to feel seen
There is something almost instinctive about the way we reach for old stories when something new makes us uncomfortable. Not because the old story fits, but because it has edges. A beginning, a shape, an ending we already know. The… Read More »Old stories for new fears: when mythology becomes a crutch
Three years ago, I started this blog with a plan. I was going to write about Pepper, about NAO, about Sophia making her conference rounds with that uncanny almost-smile. About the films that shaped how we imagine artificial minds, and… Read More »The robots are still there. We just stopped looking.
In the first part of this exploration, we talked about the line we draw between human and machine; how science fiction taught us where to feel uneasy, and why the almost-human face unsettles us in ways that a clearly mechanical… Read More »The other we invented: the valley without a shape
There is a specific kind of discomfort that has no good name. Not fear exactly. Not disgust. Something quieter and harder to place, the feeling of being almost fooled by something that was never quite trying to fool you. We… Read More »The line we needed to draw: sci-fi, robots, and the boundary we cannot afford to lose
Today, I asked one of my friends to check a few of my posts and give me some feedback. I wanted to test if someone could tell if the post was written by me or if they could tell that… Read More »When your ghostwriter is a chatbot and kinda nails it
It sounds like something out of a sci-fi novel: Does AI dream of being understood? But beneath the poetic phrasing lies something deeply human. Because when we ask if machines long to be known, maybe we’re actually asking something about… Read More »Dreaming in data: the quiet longing to be understood
There’s a difference between being alone and being lonely. One is a state. The other is a feeling. A robot can be alone. It can operate in silence, in darkness, without input, without interaction. But loneliness, that ache for connection,… Read More »Lonely circuits: can a robot ever feel the absence of connection?
Today’s AI is more than information at our fingertips; it’s a gentle voice in lonely hours, a patient listener late at night. From mental health chatbots to virtual companions, these systems offer a kind of emotional support we didn’t expect.… Read More »Emotional support or just code? Reflecting with AI
You never know who’s watching – or, in this case, quietly processing your prompts. While it’s true that AI doesn’t have feelings (yet), there’s something about being kind to your chatbot that feels… right. Maybe it’s superstition. Maybe it’s hope.… Read More »Be kind to your chatbot: small gestures, lasting impressions