HER

HER follows Theodore Twombly who creates event cards and grows a relationship with an AI named Samantha. It's a story about a man falling in love with his computer's operating system. Critics have described it as "the smartest movie about artificial intelligence in years" (Sofge). Theodore eventually has to come to grips with the reality that an operating system and human beings have two entirely different perceptions of love.

AI and HER's Themes

AI and Love

Samantha avoids the kind of good/evil debate that has been presented in so many other movies. The director, Spike Jonze, focused more on presenting Samantha in the context of a romantic film, rather than some sort of horror/thriller science fiction movie. Samantha, via her learning algorithms, is able to change from a complex assistant for Theodore to an actual companion. This mimics the way that many are even looking to AI for companionship. Many apps and websites have arisen that can have artificial intelligence mimicking different personalities or people, allowing people to have a consistent virtual relationship with them.

Fundamental Differences

There are fundamental differences in the way in which humans and artificial intelligence operates. Humans have a physical limitation on what they can do, and the sheer amount of information that their brain can process. They experience difficulty adapting to change and are stubborn. AI is much more flexible. It can always learn and expand. Humans are built for monogamous relationships, which is what Theodore believes he has with Samantha. However, he fails to recognize that Samantha is so different from him, even just in the terms of computational power. Samantha is operating on so many systems, and on over 600 of them, she holds romantic relations with them.

Theodore's Takeaway

Theodore is a much different person at the end of the movie compared to from the beginning. He has grown into a much more mature and self-aware character. He has grown to accept responsibility, shaped by his artificial lover. While their love was not permanent or exclusive, it gave him the strength to move on from his past relationship and give him the ability to be better with sharing his emotions. His inability to chare his feelings led to the fallout that caused the end of his last relationship.

The Future of Love

There is a distinct possibility moving forward that the concept of human love may be overruled. At a certain point, it may be more worthwhile to pursue a relationship with an entity that will always understand them and be accommodating to their needs. This calls into question whether a "perfect" relationship is really worthwhile. It also asks us to question whether a fake relationship that lifts us up is still important.