’90s kids (and their parents) might remember the Tamagotchi craze, a little egg-shaped video game that dominated toy markets for a while. Children raised a virtual pet that could be hung from their backpack like a key chain. I was told it was a great toy – the trauma of forgetting it somewhere and then finding it had shifted to greener digital pastures despite.
Now, in the age of the metaverse, something else is here…and it’s even scarier. “Augmented Reality Babies” offer users the virtual experience of “parenthood”, an algorithm designed to behave like a real baby. Using virtual reality goggles, or even potentially wearable gloves that can simulate physical touch, users can interact with a digital baby as it grows…or, eventually (and even scarier) , because it remains exactly the same.
Some gurus herald AR babies as a new era of parenthood. “Make no mistake that this development, should it indeed take place, is a technological game-changer that…could help us solve some of today’s most pressing problems, including overpopulation” , said Catriona Campbell, a former technology adviser to the British. government and author of the book “AI by Design: A Plan for Living With Artificial Intelligence”.
Some argue that this new development could also ease the loneliness of those who want children but cannot have them or those who feel they cannot afford to have children. While the average child costs around $230,000 when they turn 17, reports the New York Post, “a digital child…could have all their needs met for less than $25 a month.” And as a bonus, no diaper changes!
In light of these possibilities, Campbell offered a somewhat troubling prediction: “I think it would be reasonable to expect that up to 20% of people would choose to have an AR baby over a real one. .”
On the one hand, it’s hard not to be cynical about Campbell’s bright-eyed technological optimism, especially given the current dodgy state of Mark Zuckerberg’s Metaverse. No matter how good it is, augmented reality simply can’t replace many of life’s best experiences. Playing a video game in the Metaverse, for example, is fun. Eating a piece of cake… not so much.
By misunderstanding why people become parents in the first place, many augmented reality proponents misunderstand the essence of what it means to be human. Disconnecting from an AR “baby” may be easier, but all the work put into an actual child is something that simply cannot be simulated or replaced with a simulation.
And of course, the whole idea of global overpopulation continues to crumble as its predictions continue to prove wrong. If it actually works, this technology will almost certainly be adopted in countries where the most acute problem is underpopulation, not to mention increasingly devastating loneliness rates. It’s a common trend in the modern world – much like prescribing marijuana for anxiety – that our “cures” only make the problem worse.
Spending more than seven hours a day staring at screens for work, play, and connection has led many people to believe that technology can replace real-life relationships. But the opposite is true. Technology can do wonders, but putting a virtual baby in the hands of a single person is like giving a glass of salt water to someone dying of dehydration.
Similarly, it is simply not true that a life without responsibility is the one that will produce the most happiness. As any parent knows, real kids are noisy, expensive, and inconvenient. There are days when they seem to constantly tap into our reserves of energy and, sometimes, the last bits of patience. But they are worth it.
Jesus’ words that “it is more blessed to give than to receive” are not just a pious aphorism. They describe a central element of what it means to be human. The surprising source of true life, joy and vitality is to serve others, not just ourselves.
As sophisticated as they may one day be, virtual babies will always be just a piece of code, a futile attempt to meet the felt needs of single adults without ever providing for their real needs. If that’s what people want, it would be best to avoid any pretense of “parenthood” and buy them a Tamagotchi instead.
From BreakPoint, July 20, 2022; reproduced with permission from the Colson Center, breakpoint.org.