Personal Philosopher^TM was a runaway success. It became the app to have in just a couple of weeks. It combined the depth and reach of an online encyclopedia with the ease of reference of a tool such as Wikipedia and the simplicity of a novel like Sophie’s World. On top of that, the application did retain a lot of M’s original therapeutic firepower. Moreover, while the interface was much the same – a pretty woman for men, and a pretty man for women – the fact that the pretty face was no longer supposed to represent that of a therapist led to levels of ‘affectionateness’ which the developers of M had not dared to imagine before. A substantial number of users admitted that they were literally ‘in love’ with the new product.

For some reason – most probably because he thought he could not afford to do so as project team leader and marketing manager – Tom abstained from developing such relationship with Promise’s latest incarnation. However, he did encourage his new girlfriend (he had met Angie in the gym indeed – as predicted) to go all the way. She raved about the application. She also spent more and more precious private evening time using it.

He took her out for dinner one evening in an obvious attempt to try to learn more about her experience with ‘Thomas’, as she had baptized it – or ‘him’. He had consciously refrained from talking much about it before, as he did not want to influence her use of it – or ‘Thomas’ as she called it.

He started by praising her: ‘It’s amazing what you’ve learned from Thomas.’

‘Yeah. It’s quite incredible, isn’t it? I never thought I’d like it so much.’

‘Well… It’s good for me. People never believed it would work, and those who did, could not imagine it would become so popular. What’s the most fascinating thing about it? Sorry. About him. Isn’t it funny I still like to think of Promise as a woman actually?’

‘Thomas can answer all of my questions really. I mean… He actually can’t – philosophy never can – but he clarifies stuff in a way that makes me stop wondering about things and just accept life as it is. He’s really as you thought he, or it, or whatever, would be like: a guru.’

‘I don’t want to sound jealous but didn’t you say something similar about me like a few months ago?’

‘Oh come on, Tom. You know I named Thomas after you – because you’re so similar indeed.’

‘Am I? You say that, but in what ways are Thomas and I similar really?’

‘The same enthusiasm. The same positive outlook on life. And then, of course, he knows a lot more – or much more detail – but you’re rather omniscient as well I think.’

That did not surprise Tom. He and his team had ensured a positive outlook indeed. While Personal Philosopher^TM could brief you in very much detail about philosophers such as Nietzsche indeed, its orientation was clearly much more pragmatic and constructive: they wanted the application to help people feel better about themselves, not worse. In that sense, the application had retained M’s therapeutic qualities even if it did not share M’s original behavioralist framework.

‘Could you love Thomas?’

Angie laughed.

‘So you are jealous, aren’t you? Of course not, silly! You’re human. Thomas is just – well… He’s a computer.’

‘Can’t one fall in love with a computer?’

Angie didn’t need to think about that. She was smart. On top of that, she had learnt a lot from Thomas also.

‘Of course not. Love is a human experience. Thomas is not human. For starters, love is linked to sex and our physical being in life. But not only to that. It’s also linked to our uniquely human experience of being mortal and feeling alone in this universe. It’s our connection to the Mystery in life. It’s part of our being as a social animal. In short, it’s something existential – so it’s linked to our very existence as a human being. And Thomas is not a human being and so he cannot experience that. Love is also something mutual, and so there’s no way one could fall in love with him – or ‘it’ I would say in this context – because he can’t fall in love with me.’

Tom and his team had scripted answers like this. It was true he and Thomas shared similar views.

‘What if he could?’

‘Sorry?’

‘What if Thomas could fall in love with you? I mean… We’re so close to re-creating the human mind with this thing. I agree it’s got no body and so it can’t experience sex or so – but I guess we might get close to letting it think it can.’

‘Are you serious?’

‘Yes and no. It’s a possibility – albeit a very remote one. And then the question is, of course, whether or not we would really want that to happen.’

‘What?’

‘The creation of a love machine. Let’s suppose we can create the perfect android. In fact, there are examples already. The University of Osaka has created so-called gynoids: robots with a body that perfectly resembles that of a beautiful woman. For some reason, they don’t do the same kind of research with male forms. In any case… Let’s suppose we could give Thomas the perfect male body. I know it sounds perverse but let’s suppose we could make it feel like a real body, that it would be warm and that it would breathe and all that, and that its synthetic skin would feel like mine.’

‘You must be joking.’

‘That’s the title of a biography of Richard Feynman.’

‘Sorry?’

‘Sorry. That’s not relevant. Just think about my question, Angie. Would you be able to make love with an android? I mean, just think it would smell better than me, never be tired, and that it would be better than any sex toy you’ve ever had.’

‘I never had sex toys. I don’t need them.’

‘OK… Sorry. But you know what I mean.’

‘It would be like… Like masturbation.’

‘Perhaps you don’t use sex toys, but you masturbate, Angie. I mean… Sorry. You do it with me. Could you imagine doing it with an android? With an android who would have Thomas’s face and intelligence and… Well… Thomas’ human warmth?’

‘Thomas’ warmth isn’t human.’

‘OK. Just Thomas’ warmth then. Let’s suppose we can give him skin and a beating heart and all that.’

‘You’re not working on a project like that, are you?’

‘Of course I am not. I just want to know.’

‘Because you’re jealous? You think I spend too much time with Thomas?’

‘No. Not because I am jealous or because I think you spend too much time with Thomas. I want to know because I am really intrigued by the question. Professionally and personally.’

‘What do you mean by personally?’

‘Well… Just what I say: personally. It has nothing to do with you. I am just curious and want to think through all the possibilities. You know I am fascinated by M. I wonder where it will be let’s say thirty years from now. I wonder whether we’ll have androids being used as a masturbation toy.’

Angie thought about it.

‘Well… Frankly… I think… Yes. It would not be all that different from the kind of sex toys some people are already using now, would it? I mean… If you’re deprived from real sex, what you’re describing would not be a bad alternative, would it?’

Tom laughed. ‘No. Not at all.’

After a short pause, Angie resumed the conversation.

‘But such androids would smell differently. We’d know it. And women would always prefer a real man.’

‘Why?’

‘Because… Because you’re human. I told you. Love is something human. Love is the ultimate goal in our lives because it’s so human. Fragile and imperfect and difficult… But incredibly worthwhile at the same time too. Something worth striving for. Something worth fighting for. It intimately connects us: us as human beings in our human condition.’

‘What’s our human condition?’

‘Well… What I said before. Mortality. Our relationship with the sacred – or all of the mystery if you want. I mean, we’re into existentialism here. You can ask Thomas all about it.’

She laughed. Tom didn’t.

‘You mean our relationship with our own limits? That’s what makes us human? That’s what makes us want to be loved by someone else?’

‘I wouldn’t call it that way, but I guess that’s another way of putting it. Yes.’

‘OK… Thanks for loving me.’

Angie laughed. ‘You’re funny. Can we talk about something else now?’

‘Of course. What do you want to talk about?’

‘Something I can’t talk about with Thomas.’

‘So what is that?’

‘Well… Let’s try gossip… Or local politics… Or both. And Thomas isn’t much into fitness either.’

‘Well… We could think of a new product perhaps. I am sure we could re-program M yet again and include local politics and fitness as discussion topics as well…’

‘Come on Tom. You know what I mean.’

‘Sure, Angie. I love you.’

‘I love you too, Tom. I really do. I should spend more time with you. I will. Don’t worry about Thomas.’

‘I don’t. Or actually I do. But then in a good way. Thomas is a good product. It was a good investment.’