With the development of technology, personal relationships seem to have been weakened, as people are increasingly occupied with their cell phones. Some people believe that technology does not free people. Instead, it imprisons people into the cages of convenience. The thriving artificial intelligence is bringing people emotional support previously generated from human-to-human interactions only. However, this human-robot relationship is being criticized for the lack of “authenticity”. This essay will discuss the positive and negative implications of new ways of connections, through an analysis of two articles. In “Alone Together” by Sherry Turkle, the author believes that new ways of connections bring negative effects in human relationships and diminish the authenticity of intimacy. In “The World and Other Places” by Jeanette Winterson, the author believes that the ways people interact with the world defines a person from the childhood, and changes can bring loss and confusion to some people. Changing the ways people connect with each other can bring family members closer to each other, and extend the scope of intimacy to non-human objects, but it can also deprive the intimacy established by the previous ways of connection.

The environment is able to both limit and shape people’s connection with each other. Intimate relationships in a family have profound influences in a child. As a child from a poor family, the narrator of “The World and Other Places” found himself constantly limited by the physical world. However, poverty helped the family to find new ways to connect with each other. “Then my sister gave us each a blind-fold. We put it on, and sat quietly, dreaming, imagining, while one of us started talking about the strange place we were visiting. (Winterson 283).” While the children did not get to experience the real India, France, and Egypt, what they did experience was the genuine joy for family members to be together and dream together. The fake scenes and the lack of authenticity became even contributive to the boy’s ambitions. If the family were rich enough to travel around the world but without the games and fun, the intimacy would be completely lost and the boy would hardly be motivated to go and see the world in the future.

New ways of connecting with each other bring family members closer by offering them more opportunities to interact with each other. The convenience brought by technology is bringing people closer than before, by reducing the physical distance between them. Some feel that technology has taken away the authenticity in the intimacy that they once felt. However, they have failed to find reasons in themselves. In the article by Turkle, an example of Ellen and her grandmother is used to demonstrate the detrimental effects of technology on intimate human relationships. In this case, Ellen felt guilty to be multitasking while Skyping with her grandmother: “Ellen felt guilty and confused: she knew that her grandmother was happy, even if their intimacy was now, for Ellen, another task among multitasks (Turkle 23).” Multitasking was simply a choice, as Ellen was fully capable of not doing it and concentrating on her grandmother while chatting with her. Blaming technology for her own choice doesn’t diminish the increased opportunity of intimacy brought by technology.

Different ways of connections show that authenticity of intimacy exists not only in humans only, but also in objects. Being a grown up and a pilot who has realized his childhood dreams, the model airplane the boy made when he was little still carried his hopes and dreams. Even if the dreams are realized and the hopes were gone, the emotions were still genuine: “What hopes they carried. More than the altar at church. More than a good school report. In the secret places, under the fuselage, stuck to the tail-fin, I had hidden my hopes (Winterson 285).” Objects that are remote and emotionless to some can bring others to tears. This is not because of any special quality of the objects, but people’s special memories with the objects. In this sense, the authenticity of a wedding ring and an AI robot is not that different. Clearly, the mother and the son had similar emotions towards the model airplane. Sharing emotions on non-human objects hardly hinders the emotions between human beings.

New technology is helping humans to establish and extend intimacy to artificial intelligence. Since the entire experience of emotional AI is to mimic the best part of the human relationship, it should be considered as genuine as the relationship between humans. Once developed to a certain height, by taking only the best part from the relationship, the robots can serve as teachers, as humans would unconsciously imitate the robots’ behaviors, preparing themselves to become more emotional competent persons. Just as people find emotional support from their pets, which are considered no threat or competition to human relationships, robots and AI should not, either. In the example of the authentic turtle in the American Museum of Natural History, “Rebecca was both concerned for the imprisoned turtle and unmoved by its authenticity (Turkle 15).” The younger generations have less emphasis on authenticity, and more on function and visual effect. This should not be criticized. There are people who prefer human relationship, and there are also people who enjoy the company of pets and robots. The coexistence of multiple intimacy forms doesn’t mean that one should dominant the others.

On the negative side, the constantly changing ways people interact with each other can make people lose touch with the intimacy they once had. Having become a true pilot and seen people from all over the world, the boy became confused about his purpose of life. “The curious thing is that no matter how different they are, the people are all preoccupied with the same things, that is, the same thing; how to live. We have to eat, we want to make money, but in every pause the question returns: How shall I live (Winterson 286)?” The embarrassment for his childhood dreams is only one the surface. Deep down, it was the changing ways of interacting with his loved ones that confused him, distancing him from his family and childhood dreams, making him feel lost. The loss of connections deprived the meaning of his life. Authenticity must derive from inner strength. Only people with the inner strength and belief in true intimacy can withstand the changing ways of human connections, and still maintain the intimate relationship with the world and their loved ones.

Technology is “seductive” because it changes the ways people connect with each other even more dramatically. Currently, technologies are only able to create simulations of humanity. This is done by pushing the “Darwinian buttons” including the way people make eye contact, how people move, and how they express emotions. Even in the most intimate relationship among humans, there must be moments that are not entirely about love and positive feelings. In addition to the “care and companionship,” there are also the parts of “cheating” and “heartbreak (Turkle 17).” It is dangerous to take away these elements and build artificial intimacy based entirely on the positive sides of a human-to-human relationship. Misled by the AI, humans are susceptible to indulge themselves in the fake intimacy with AI, and may become entirely passive in a relationship. They will no longer understand the importance of commitment and compromise as fundamental elements of authenticity. In addition, technology has also brought people the convenience to connect with people. however, people should be cautious not be too dependent on the convenience. For example, the roommate “sent a text message to Ronnie, no more than fifteen feet away (Turkle 13),” just to avoid interacting with her in person. In such cases, the convenience is driving people apart, and eventually, people will no longer be able to establish intimacy independently.

In conclusion, imitate relationships are important for everyone. It is even more influential than the physical environment, especially for children. AI and robotics technologies have brought changes in the way people interact with each other and establish intimate relationships. In this process, the importance of authenticity is decreasing, while feelings and emotions are more important. Some changes can have negative effects that reduce people’s ability to establish intimate relationships with other people and deprive the previously built intimacy and connections. However, there is always a choice for people to step out of the virtual environment and see their loved ones in person. Despite the negative influences of changes, they help bring loved ones closer, and extend the meaning of intimacy to non-human beings and objects. Just like some people keep pets for emotional support, such technologies and changes in the ways people connect with each other should not be considered as a substitution or threat.