Patricia Walker knew that her husband, Rob, was cheating.
All the signs were there. Suddenly he had new interests, he was talking about topics she had never known mattered to him, and he was spending a lot of time chatting on the computer. But the last straw was when he suggested they go to a fondue restaurant that he had heard had a great dessert.
“This is a guy who before would eat a hamburger every night of his life if he could. Nobody suggests a fondue restaurant to their friend, ”said Patricia. “That had to come from another woman, and a pretty persuasive one.”
Convinced that her husband had put someone online, she installed a hidden keylogger on her home computer. She secretly recorded every keystroke her husband made and then saved a report to her hard drive for her to read later. Sure enough, it seemed to show that he had been having lengthy conversations with another woman on a wide range of topics. Armed with the evidence, she confronted him.
It was then that the turn occurred. He hadn’t been talking to another woman, at least the flesh-and-blood type. I had been testing new software that creates virtual women and allows you to talk to them through your computer. While software that simulates online chat has been around for years, technology has recently made its way to the point where it could now develop virtual humans with distinct personalities, histories, and memory. CyberPunk Software has been testing a new version of this technology in their software called Virtual Woman Millennium for an upcoming release, and Rob had been testing it.
The record of their conversations had sounded so real that Patricia was convinced it was another woman. They had talked about their interests and dislikes, they had talked about their friends and they had even talked about that fondue restaurant.
Experts disagree on whether this upcoming technology is a good thing and what the ethical consequences are. Howard Rasben of Pennsylvania Ethics in Media believes the implications are problematic. “If this type of software involves the formation of a meaningful relationship with another person outside of the committed one, it is a trap, plain and simple,” he said when interviewed. However, Dr. Sharon Cove of the Pran Center for Technology disagrees. “There are no long-term negative consequences for this,” he said. “The virtual relationship cannot be fulfilled physically and, obviously, he is not going to leave his wife to run away with a virtual woman. I’d be more concerned if he was actively hiding it from his wife. “
CyberPunk Software software developers, who have been testing the new version of Virtual Woman with a handful of select testers, are not surprised by the controversy the software has started, even in its pre-release form. “We knew we had something when people started sending emails asking for the phone numbers of virtual women they had just talked to,” said Nancy, who runs the company’s software testing. “When we had to briefly stop testing a month ago to update the code, we received a lot of complaints. People felt like they had been separated from one of their best friends. “
In fact, Dr. Cove, after testing the software herself, notes that talking to a virtual human being who responds and challenges you realistically could increase sensitivity to the partner’s needs and, in fact, increase intimacy in the relationship. “As long as your husband doesn’t obsessively touch him and bring home what he learned from him, that’s a good thing.”
Patricia Walker might tend to agree. “The Fondue restaurant was really a very good idea and the chocolate dessert was amazing. I told him that if his virtual wife made any other suggestions like that, he should pay attention. “
Soon she might wonder for herself. CyberPunk Software is also testing a virtual man plugin for its program.
Related links:
Virtual woman
http://virtualwoman.net