Authenticity in the age of digital companions

The first generation of children to grow up with electronic toys and games saw computers as their “nearest neighbors.” They spoke of computers as rational machines and of people as emotional machines, a fragile formulation destined to be challenged. By the mid-1990s, computational creatures, including robots, were presenting themselves as “relational artifacts,” beings with feelings and needs. One consequence of this development is a crisis in authenticity in many quarters. In an increasing number of situations, people behave as though they no longer privilege authentic emotion. This paper examines watershed moments in the history of human-machine interaction, focusing on the implications of relational artifacts for our collective perception of aliveness and for human-tohuman relationships. For now, the exploration of human-robot encounters leads us to questions about the human purposes of believable digital companions that are evocative but not authentic.