I'm your man

“The dream of the artificial human being is probably as old as humanity itself. In ancient times, it still involved a mythical-artistic act of creation requiring help from the gods. Prometheus created humans out of clay and water, the artist Pygmalion built a female statue, fell in love with it,and asked the goddess Aphrodite to breathe life into her. But with growing confidence in his own ability, man took the creation of his likeness out of the hands of the gods. From the first mechanical automata to the current development of artificial intelligences, the aspect of transcendence or divine intervention seems to have disappeared.
However, if robots ever could be partners in life and love for human beings, questions about the ‘secret of life’, about the soul, about feelings and consciousness will take on central importance again.

Stories about artificial human beings often alternate between fascination and horror. Man plays God and creates his own subjects. At the same time, he is afraid he could lose control of his artificial creation which will gain power over him. Many such stories, from the medieval Golem to ‘Ex Machina’, lead to destruction and death.

Tom is more advanced than his artificial predecessors. He is superior to humans in almost every way while remaining free of personal ambition, fear, or the desire for freedom. He presents no danger. Tom is perhaps the ultimate subject. Enlightened and in agreement with his mission being his raison d'être: a mission no less than the most wonderful thing in the world – to make a person happy. Programmed as the perfect life partner, equipped with individually selected traits and characteristics, his purpose is to banish loneliness, fulfil the longing for trust and love, yet remain purchasable – a notion that Alma vehemently detests. Robots are supposed to monitor flight paths and traffic-light circuits, mow lawns and control locking systems. But she believes that love, true feeling, happiness and unhappiness are reserved for human beings.”

Maria Schrader