For as long as we can recall philosophers, poets and scientists alike have grappled with the seemingly impossible task of defining the essence of love, and as an extension of this the essence of humanity. We now live in a society where technology is entrenched in our everyday lives and the question is taking on a new unsettling dimension; are machines capable of understanding, or even feeling, love?
If we stop believing that there is something innately different about people; about the way we think and feel and love then the whole concept of AI becomes a lot more daunting. If we accept as a society that AI can understand and consequently replicate human emotions then, without wishing to sound like a nihilistic nay-sayer, the future starts to look very different, and arguably very bleak.
The ‘fundamental question: what does it mean to love’ is explored by Nobel Prize for Literature winner, Kazuo Ishiguro, in his eight novel ‘Klara and the Sun’. The novel is narrated from the perspective of the eponymous Artificial Friend (AF), Klara. Through Klara’s limited but sincere attempts to comprehend affection, devotion, and loss, Ishiguro challenges readers to reconsider the boundaries between human and artificial consciousness, and to reflect on whether love is an emotion that can ever be replicated – or if it remains the final, and only, distinction between us and AI.
Yet, it is this first person, limited narration that seems to have been the root of a lot of contention surrounding the reception of the book. Critics have revered it with, The Sunday Times, calling it “a masterpiece of great beauty”. The majority of the praise has been in regards to Ishiguro’s philosophical exploration of humanity, love and the relationship with AI. Yet, many have criticised several aspects of the book. The criticisms have predominantly focused on the limitations of Klara, the AF; with some facets of her personality being incredibly developed and advanced yet other aspects of her character highlight her extreme naivety and lack of understanding of humanity.
Ishiguro’s exploration of AI is undoubtedly quite simple and rudimentary, but this obstacle is insurmountable as the book is narrated from the perspective of an AF. In fact, Ishiguro uses the limited comprehension of AF’s – that becomes apparent via the narrative – to highlight the inherent and unbridgeable differences between humanity and AI.
When considering the essence of humanity Klara remarks, “There was something very special, but it wasn’t inside of Josie. It was inside those who loved her.” What makes Josie, Josie – a human – is not a replicable “something special” like a soul inside of her. Instead, what makes Josie, Josie, is better understood in terms of a relational understanding of humanity and ultimately this is what sets humanity apart from our AF counterparts.
Martin Buber, a philosopher closely linked to existentialism, believes that humanity, as we conceive of it as an abstract concept, cannot arise in isolation. In fact, for people to become agents who are capable of what we attribute as intrinsic human capabilities – such as love, trust and respect – they must do so through encounters with others. Ideally, people who know, see and love them. Therefore, in Josie’s case her essence, her something special (her memories, emotional responses and the relationships she has fostered) are unable to be continued posthumously by Klara, as she simply cannot “continue” these. They are unique to Josie and Josie alone.
Ishiguro’s exploration of these themes whilst superficially appearing as overly simplistic, is in fact a hugely effective literary technique. Klara and her understanding of Josie’s emotions becomes a metaphor for the differences between humans and AI. There is, according to Ishiguro, something that sets us apart. If Klara’s portrayal of humanity was too complex and profound then it would undermine the supposition that there are inherent differences between the two. So, in choosing Klara as a narrator Ishiguro was limited in what he could do.
Love, as it is presented by Ishiguro, is a uniquely human experience. Via Klara, readers are forced to realise that our capacity for relational emotion is a privilege and one that should not be taken for granted. No matter how much Klara endeavours to ‘learn’ Josie she is unable to capture her essence. Ishiguro has exposed the chasm between imitation and understanding of love, for observing it and truly feeling it.
So, the future is not so bleak. The essence of being human is love, and it is this relational bond between people that cannot be emulated by machines; it is messy, life-altering and utterly incomprehensible to anyone who isn’t human.
