At one time, artists believed that it was impossible for AI to do art. AI was an algorithm and an algorithm cannot be creative, so AI could not dare attempt to take over the field of art which requires creativity. 

Sadly, they were mistaken. 

Even the artworks that were devoid of creativity could very well give emotional satisfaction to people. The time was when AI dominated all areas of art and the money earned by human artists was now earned by AI service providers. It was ironical that the woman and the man had once aspired to be artists. The two were the very pioneers of the era of AI art.

This story shows us a future in which AI has become a routine part of our lives. The story describes what would happen if the capitalist system that focuses on practicality and efficiency came to take control of human relationships and emotions. In the world described in this story, stand-ins communicate a person’s feelings at first, but this role is taken over by AI later. The relationships forged by AI are not genuine. So, the woman and the man end up getting a divorce. The truth is, however, that such emotional proxy business exists today too. In today’s world, there are stand-in services for breakups or weddings. People are busy making a living, so they tend to invest much less time in expressing their emotions. Also, today’s people are more used to the online environment which doesn’t demand much emotional involvement, giving rise to the practice of hiring substitutes to express one’s own feelings. This story seems to show that dark side of the near future.

Lee Se-hyung/ Writing on genre literature platform BritG and studying and experimenting with stories in different areas