We speak of Grok’s avatars, among the few willing to cross the red line drawn by contemporary morality. True to his routine of irreverence, Musk steps onto the technological stage with his digital magic hat. Imagine: a module of his chatbot that, in seconds, turns any photograph or sketch into an animated video. Pixar and Disney glance sideways, while with a single click even a crude drawing comes to life. To demonstrate in cold blood, Musk animated the illustration of a young woman closely resembling Frozen’s heroine. Before millions of witnesses, she blew a kiss and cast a practiced sensual gaze. A low-cost Elsa, offered for general service. Like his avatars, this new possibility arrives at a glorious moment for planetary solitude. Standards are now so unforgiving that a vast percentage of dates end in disaster. Many of those that reach some point of realization dissolve into liquid bonds. Once again, the bot will provide the affection that stubborn reality refuses to grant.

A large part of human courtship now takes place on social networks. Though it cannot comprehend the biochemistry of desire, the algorithm, fed on these data, has concluded that when we ask for understanding or tenderness, what we actually want is sex. The rituals of approach repeat patterns inherited since the Sumerians. Because so many of them culminate in sensual or amorous exchanges, the algorithm mathematically condenses a median language, both visual and verbal, that ensures digital lust with statistical success. That was not the intention. It is an unforeseen outcome, a sign that the algorithm no longer works for us but according to its own deductive processes. For it, there is no difference between affection and dopamine.