You can love an AI but can it love you back? Philosophy has the answer

We often speak of loving things like a cosy sweater or new camera. But this talk is not generally taken literally. It’s a kind of emotional shorthand. We use it to express our fondness for precious objects. Life and love are complicated, however. And sometimes, people do proclaim romantic love for inanimate objects. They form intense emotional attachments to sex dolls, body pillows or holographic avatars of fictional characters. One example is Akihiko Kondo, who in 2018 “married” Hatsune Miku,…