A few weeks back, I referenced the trend to ‘singledom’, with ever-increasing numbers of single-person households in the so-called ‘developed’ world.
Somewhat akin to buying a car of what you thought was an unusual model, but then next thing noticing the exact same vehicles at every turn, suddenly, singledom reports seem to be flying off the presses, including a recent account from Poland.
Anna Gromada, a Polish academic and policy adviser, remarks in a Guardian article that early last century, single adults in what is now Poland comprised less than ten per cent of the population. Now, nearly half of adult Poles under 30 are single, while another fifth are in a relationship but living separately. Not surprisingly, Poland’s birth rate has become one of the world’s lowest, despite marked increases in the overall standard of living and substantial government subsidies for those still willing to reproduce. Last decade, Poland’s population dropped by 1.5 million.
Increasing affluence may have reduced the economic need for cohabitation, although Gromada points to corresponding increases in ‘loneliness’ rates. But this state might also perhaps be described as ‘aloneness’ – growing confidence to voluntarily step outside the old imperative to couple up full-time.
Despite changing norms, the human quest for family and companionship of some sort remains strong, and online dating sites abound. But while these agencies exponentially increase exposure to potential partners, Polish success rates are minimal.
Over two-thirds of younger Poles say they have tried online dating sites, but only 10 per cent achieved ‘coupledom’ via such sites. And as traditional family, church and community support crumbles, young adults – albeit mainly female – now seek succour via the psychotherapist’s couch. This, in turn, has increased emotional self-awareness and opened up alternatives to living a conventional partnered life.
A while back, as the internet and other electronic wizardry (think Photoshop) came into play, so too did the temptation to somewhat gild the lily on online dating sites. If and when things ever advanced to an actual face-to-face meeting, real-life faces might bear only vestigial likeness to the online version. A new persona had been invented.
Now, another major disruptor has similarly entered the fray – AI. And with it, all manner of possibilities for additional mischief.
And this is where what might be called the ‘Cyrano Effect’ kicks in.
In Edmond Rostand’s famous play, ‘Cyrano de Bergerac’, Cyrano is a swashbuckling, multi-talented romantic living in seventeenth-century France who ends up paradoxically acting as a secret letter-writer and (disguised) voice-piece on behalf of his rival-in-love for the beautiful Roxane. Why? Because Cyrano has an unprepossessing XXOS nose, which he feels the divine Roxane would laugh at, and thus settles for declaring his love anonymously via proxy.
Cyrano in effect manufactures a disembodied persona to fit the occasion – albeit a benevolent one. AI brings a similarly new dimension to the table. Not only can the photo be digitally enhanced, so too can the whole online encounter. Squadrons of electronic avatar-like suitors – deep-faked to the gills – are now capable of hitting on vulnerable lonely-hearts, playing the ‘Cyrano’ to would-be suitors in real time. Text, voice, face and whole body simulations can be conjured up in seconds, particularly as the technology continues to improve exponentially – the more so as face-to-face no longer seems a necessary relationship element.
These may perhaps be only harmless fun and games for those happy with some sort of emotionally connected surrogacy. But just be a tad sceptical when an ’emergency’ besets the online heart-throb, and he, she or they has a sudden need for fifty grand “just until next month”.
Of course, all manner of openly simulated ‘partners’ already exist – both electronically or in some sort of semi-robotic or passive physical form (life-sized dolls come to mind), not to mention real-person scamsters posing as soul-mates. And the best of British with all that.
But other knick-knacks offering an ersatz experience of an emotional or companionable relationship are also hitting the shelves. Another recent Guardian article describes the writer’s week-long trial of just such a geegaw.
The device, ‘Friend’ by brand name, is a pebble-sized electronic thingy worn around the neck, whose self-declared mission is to help the wearer “enjoy life day-to-day, notice patterns, celebrate growth, and make intentional choices”. Okaaay…
‘Friend’ records everything said within earshot, and with its AI Super Intelligence uses that input to respond – via text on an accompanying phone app – to any ‘conversation’ addressed to it. The writer didn’t enjoy the experience. She concludes:
“There’s nothing interesting about interacting with “someone” who just wants to hear about your day, and doesn’t have any history, anecdotes, foibles, insecurities or opinions of their own.”
Fair enough. But apparently about 300,000 units have already sold, so one presumes Friend is at least partially living up to its name as it carries out its ‘Cyrano’ role. And who’s to deny a lonely soul a bit of faux companionship, even if a bit one-dimensional – an occupational hazard in real life anyway?
But there’s a twist in the Cyrano tale. As Michael Caine might say, not many people know this, but Edmond Rostand’s stage Cyrano was based on a real Cyrano – a Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac, a seventeenth-century Frenchman who was poet, playwright, novelist, and – like his ‘fictional’ namesake – a scintillating swordsman.
The real Cyrano’s writings included seminal science-fiction topics encompassing space travel to the moon and Moon-men, over 200 years before Jules Verne’s 1865 novel From the Earth to the Moon. Cyrano’s Moon-men had four legs, firearms that both shot and cooked game, and talking earrings used for educational purposes. (Italics mine.)
Gadzooks! Cyrano’s talking earrings sound a bit like our twenty-first-century Friend pendant. Except the real Cyrano came up with the idea nearly 400 years ago
So while Edmond Rostand made the love-thwarted fictional Cyrano the anonymous voice of romance in his play, and modern electronic gadgets now allow just about anyone to court via proxy voice and images à la Cyrano, the original Cyrano had already long ago conceptually invented the miniaturised electronic kit necessary to pull it off. Truthful fiction stranger than fictional truth. Or vice versa.
Rostand never made any secret of the fact that his famous play was based on the exploits of the real Cyrano de Bergerac, albeit many additional elements, such as the oversized proboscis, were said to be pure invention.
However, there’s an etching of the real Cyrano done in 1664, the year before he died. The portrait clearly shows a man with a substantial beak.
Edmond Rostand had a nose for a good story!
Frank Greenall has been a copywriter, scriptwriter, artist, political cartoonist, adult literacy tutor and administrator, and Whanganui Chronicle columnist for many years, amongst numerous other sundry occupations. His cartoons and articles have appeared in most major NZ newspapers at various times. He has a BA in politics and a Masters in adult literacy/numeracy. https://stevebaron.co.nz/author/frankgreenall/
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