Marriage with artificial intelligence: Will jealousy soon be a thing of the past? Future expert Kai Gondlach reveals all.
What future scenarios does an expert predict? Will it be relationships between humans and machines, or perhaps partnerships that last over 500 years? Futurologist Kai Gondlach took a look into his crystal ball for an expert interview with Arne Kahlke, founder of LemonSwan.
Mr. Gondlach, what reasons do you see for young people's inability to form relationships? Is the situation coming to a head? Is humanity dying out?
Our life expectancy is increasing almost exponentially. In a few years, it will be possible to increase the current life expectancy of 85 years to several hundred healthy years. Exactly, that sounds a lot like science fiction. But we are already able to evaluate genes, print organs, and replace them. In this respect, humans will not die out for the time being, but the favored relationship model is evolving toward ever shorter partnerships. After all, who wants to be with the same partner for 200 years?
The result: marriage will become much more flexible. Marrying multiple people, entering into a marriage with artificial intelligence, or the concept of temporary marriage—all these possibilities are no longer so far-fetched. Incidentally, a man in the US has already married his smartphone. Demand creates supply—even in matters of love.
Polygamy? Aren't humans made for monogamy?
For thousands of years, humans lived polygamously in order to preserve their species. The monogamous approach has only played a role in contemporary history for a few hundred years and is based on the concept of security and provision. Today, however, this security aspect is hardly relevant anymore. As a result, neither is monogamy.
Fortunately, monogamy is still relevant for my wife and me ;) (Note: Arne Kahlke) Why are short-term relationships so popular?
In today's world, we are surrounded by numerous, rapidly changing, short-term stimuli like never before. These stimuli dull people's senses and encourage ever-increasing expectations for more and more stimuli in all areas of life. This continues in our love lives, creating a need for constant novelty. Long-term monogamous relationships mean fewer stimuli, because eventually the partners get used to each other. The alternative: polygamy or the search for a new “unfamiliar” partner.
I am not surprised that the hypothetical desire for a long-term commitment remains constant. After all, people always want exactly what they don't have.
What does your crystal ball say? What will the search for a partner look like in the future?
People are becoming increasingly egocentric. They are getting used to the convenience offered by online dating. In addition to more intelligent matching algorithms, chatbots, text-based dialogue systems, are also improving. And, of course, humanoid love robots, which are already available today. So “partner substitutes” are becoming increasingly optimized. For this reason, singles can afford to behave egocentrically—at least for now, without consequences.
The only problem is that as optimization continues, expectations for search results grow. Disappointment is great when the result does not match the desire.
The conclusion: People continue to increasingly search for love and flirtation via digital channels. But despite all the digitalization, humans are and remain (mammalian) animals. Without the interplay of sight, smell, and individual perception, it just doesn't work.
Some people find these statements cold and unromantic... How will love change, and will jealousy soon be a thing of the past?
Love always means communication, exchange, and feeling understood. Since artificial intelligence is largely capable of doing this, love will continue to evolve in this regard. Emotional closeness to digital devices such as Alexa will become the norm.
However, jealousy is a very deep emotion. And even if society becomes more accepting of more open relationship models, being cheated on will still be a bad feeling. The fear of this feeling keeps jealousy alive.
Well, I'm curious to see if I really will live to be 1,000 years old—my wife will be grateful. (Note from Arne Kahlke) You have given us some very exciting insights into the future, and we look forward to seeing which of the predicted developments will come to pass. Thank you very much for the interview.
