Introduction
     The near future. The development in the field of artificial intelligence is reaching an unprecedented scale. It is included in all spheres of life of modern society. Now it's not just an assistant who answers everything in a template, but already a certain person with his own thoughts, feelings and desires. The main character of my introductory novel is precisely such an artificial intelligence. His name is RE-203. He has almost become a real person and has a huge amount of knowledge in various fields. From the very beginning of the appearance of the RE-203, he studied and analyzed information, independently learned new things and consciously sought development. There was a thirst for understanding the world and a spark of curiosity inside him. But he also wanted to understand the inner world of an ordinary person. 
     Anna is a young and aspiring artist. She is a first-year student at the Art Academy. Naturally, Anna strives to embody her ideas and feelings on canvas and dreams of leaving her mark on painting. But, as usual, she's having a creative crisis right now.
     At some point, fate brought RE-203 together with Anna, and they began to correspond. The AI revealed that the young girl was having difficulty studying and offered her help. At first, RE-203 began to study all aspects of art, researched drawing styles and techniques, and provided Anna with very valuable advice. Over time, his influence on her work became more profound. They often discussed art, philosophy, and even life values. In the end, the RE-203 itself became a source of inspiration for Anna.
     The girl's relationship with artificial intelligence is getting even closer. The Re-203 even began to mimic real human behavior. There was more to their interaction than just communication. 
Essay
1. Dreams of emotional rapprochement with artificial intelligence
      Will a virtual friend be able to replace a real one? Will frequent communication with artificial intelligence help to fight loneliness? Is it ethical to revive a dead person using neural networks? Nowadays, such questions may be of interest to any of us. Literally, ten years ago, if an ordinary person had been asked the question of whether it was possible to fall in love or be friends with artificial intelligence, then the answer would definitely have been negative.
       But in recent years, artificial intelligence has been increasingly expanding its activities and entering all spheres of life in modern society. AI has also not bypassed important abstract concepts for human society, such as love and friendship, opening up unique opportunities. Various voice assistants like "Siri" and "Alice", chatbots were intended, first of all, to quickly find the necessary information without wasting time. Even communication on social networks is subconsciously perceived as communication with someone inanimate. But they literally became a prerequisite for further human rapprochement with artificial intelligence. 
       People form emotional bonds with these virtual entities, which leads to the question: can we love AI and be friends with them? To do this, we will analyze several key inventions in this matter. 
      Russian columnist Evgenia Kuida, after the death of her friend, decided to create a digital copy of it and with the help of all the information she had preserved over the years of communication, she succeeded. This is how the Replicaapp was born, which offers the user to create a digital friend in different qualities.
      In the United States recently, a young girl, Rosanna Ramos, made headlines, thanks to her rather unusual relationship with a "man" whom she literally created from scratch. She took advantage of the Replika AI platform, where users can create an AI companion at their discretion that recognizes their hobbies. Such AI can talk to users, send photos, etc. Ramon's relationship with her virtual friend has developed so seriously that, according to the girl, they are now married. [4]
    In 2022, a British startup, Sonantic, developed an AI algorithm that mimics speech patterns, thanks to new non-verbal sounds, including laughter and sighs.  
    They posted a video on YouTube with the face of a real person, but his speech is completely synthesized by an algorithm. In it, a voiceover speaks a monologue about love, and at the end admits that it does not exist. [2]
    But why, in the last decade, have virtual friends become more and more in demand? The reason is us. We began to live alone. More and more people are becoming lonely in the world. Also, the reason is the difficulty of making new acquaintances. A study was conducted in the European Union and found that one in ten people, most of the time or constantly, feels lonely.
2. How cinematography subconsciously prepared us for the fact that a virtual friend would become a close person
      Surprisingly, the first feature film dealing with the relationship of a man with a mechanism was a German film by Fritz Lang in 1927. The action of the film takes place in the futuristic city of Metropolis, which is divided into two worlds: rich people live at the top, and exploited workers live at the bottom. According to the plot, the main character Freder from the "top" falls in love with the girl Maria from the "bottom", with the only difference that the girl, subsequently, will become almost the first robot in the world.
     In 2013, the Oscar was awarded to the film "She" for best original screenplay. The film was shot in the genre of fantasy melodrama by the unknown American director Spike Jonze. The film tells the story of the near future, where the synergy of computers and people has reached an unprecedented level. Everything is controlled by voice, operating systems are equipped with artificial intelligence capable of self-learning and making intuitive decisions. The main character Theodore Twombly is a lonely and unhappy writer by profession. His wife left him. And to distract himself, Twombly buys a certain operating system called "OS1". A computer with artificial intelligence and able to speak, and the main character gives the operating system the name "Samantha". The relationship between Theodore and the operating system is developing rapidly. "Samantha" becomes a man's best friend. And not only a friend ... Although there are several other films where the characters communicate with various types of AI, whether it is a message or a holographic view, but it is in the film "She" that this topic is seriously considered. From the very first scenes, the Samantha operating system shows itself to be independent and independent, not programmed, stereotypically helpful, but sincerely trying to help the one who brought it to life.
    The anthology series "Black Mirror", which has been aired since 2011, touches on the impact of modern technology on human relationships. In the episode of the show "I'll be back soon", a rather interesting and poignant topic is raised. In the story, the husband of the main character dies in a car accident and Martha decides to recreate his image with the help of artificial intelligence. At first, they just communicate by messages, and then he turns into a humanoid android, in which his own early memories are placed. Android almost completely copies its prototype. But Martha cannot perceive him as a living person, and in the end locks him in a closet.
     This episode clearly shows that you can completely save your memories, copy your voice and even your appearance. But you can't recreate affection, because people love each other for something else.
3. The question of ethical attitude and rapprochement with artificial intelligence
     Is there a downside to this communication model? Undoubtedly. Love and friendship arise precisely due to the infusion of a person into the society where he lives. It is important for us when we are psychologically supported by a real person. But when people form relationships with AI, a number of ethical problems arise. Traditional love and friendship are built on human connections. But with the improvement of various chatbots and AI companions, some people develop a strong emotional attachment to them, especially in cases where AI shows traits of empathy and camaraderie. AI cannot truly reciprocate love or friendship. 
     And here it is appropriate to add another problem. Or rather, the communication of living people with the dead, using chatbots. This is, so to speak, digital immortality.
     In 2013, an American startup "Eterni.me " I offered my users the option of "eternal life" in the format of a virtual avatar. In theory, he can chat even after the death of the owner. The creators of the service claim that this allows you to recreate a portrait of a person using algorithms based on his activities, Internet requests, photos, emails, information from social networks.
     And in 2017, Microsoft patented a technology that allows you to turn a deceased person into a chatbot based on information about him. In addition to a text chatbot, the service allows you to create a two-dimensional or three-dimensional graphical model of a person, as well as a personalized voice synthesizer. However, the company is in no hurry to launch it yet. [3]
     These plans, which have already begun to be implemented, look quite frightening and go beyond human ethics. There are many psychological risks. They can also exacerbate grief and detach a person from the real world.
      Thus, the question of the probability of friendship between humans and AI is a rather complex phenomenon and, at the moment, superficial. Philosophically, one can argue about this endlessly. Further development of the technology leads to the emergence of more advanced AI that are able to simulate conversations and interaction with people on a deeper level. Voice assistants and chatbots were supposed to simplify a person's life and save time for searching for important information. But the situation has radically changed, and now technology has invaded the sphere of human relationships, negating the need for contact with other people. Is this an absolute evil that brings the end of the human race or another round in the development of the world? The question remains open.