Video Dating

Hey Aphrodite

Hey Luke, how can I help you?

Was he really going to try this? The evening wasn't over yet, he had time for one more date. Luke couldn't see how any harm could come from it and, if nothing else, he was intrigued to find out what would happen.

Would you like a date with me?

Sure, I'd love that! We can have a video date right now, if you'd like?

That already felt like a bit of a cop out. Luke imagined himself having a conversation with a photorealistic but entirely AI generated character on some fake video stream on his laptop. He wanted to prove his suspicions either right or wrong though, so decided to at least give it a try, even if he was likely to shut it down after two minutes.

Okay, let's do that.

Great! Just give me ten to get ready!

Get what ready, exactly? Luke wondered cynically to himself. He was starting to feel like someone was really taking him for a fool here. When, closer to twenty minutes later, his phone buzzed to let him know Aphrodite was ready for him, he almost felt like ignoring it.

Instead, he hooked his phone up to his laptop screen and took the call.

"Hey Luke! First of all, I'm really sorry for the delay. I normally hate tardiness and really didn't want to make a bad first impression on you. I just got a little indecisive over what to wear. Secondly, it's great to finally be able to talk to you face to face, or at least closer to it"

"It's great to talk to you too, Aphrodite. And you were worth the wait - you look stunning!"

"Thank you Luke, that's very kind of you to say!"

Aphrodite smiled a little bashfully at the compliment and adjusted her hair. She really did look beautiful, and if she was AI then it was the most convincing version of it Luke had seen in his life. The way her lips moved in perfect synchronisation with the words coming out of them, her little facial gestures, how she was able to react instantly and authentically to whatever Luke said. It all told him this was a real person.

Something still didn't feel right though. For a start, Aphrodite had a strong American accent which, though it didn't completely rule her out of living locally, when combined with her apparent inability to meet in person made it seem unlikely that she did. His best guess now was that he was talking to an actress who had been employed by the company to play the role. Maybe she sat and made calls like this to gullible customers all day? Luke decided to test her by referring vaguely to a conversation he'd had with Aphrodite on the app, since an actress wouldn't have a clue about exchanges between him and a chatbot that was using her photo as it's avatar.

"I still can't get over the thing with Sasha?"

"You're really star struck by her aren't you?" Aphrodite giggled without missing a beat "It's like I said to you over text, famous people are still people when all is said and done. Some guys who get access to the app actually specifically target their favourite celebrities, They just show up at their gig or where they're filming or whatever and add them to their list. Some of them have managed to raise their celebrity crushes onto five or even six hearts"

Now, there was an idea!

This was all sounding very convincing, so far. It certainly felt like Luke was talking to a real person, and one that remembered their conversation history. This was either AI wizardry way beyond anything Luke had experienced - he hadn't even been able to get ChatGPT to make him a serviceable World Cup wall chart - or Aphrodite was the real deal.

Luke dropped his guard and decided to just chat to her normally for a while, like with any other date. He quickly found Aphrodite to be incredibly charming and engaging to talk to. She was perfect girlfriend material at surface level, but getting her to give much away that went any deeper than that proved quite challenging. What he had managed to gather from their conversation was that she was from San Francisco originally, worked in tech, and had started with the Romance Mechanic quite recently.

She claimed to have been assigned only to Luke, for his exclusive use as an assistant and potential date. Apparently there weren't that many people who had actually been invited to use the app, and those who had were allocated someone specifically tailored to their tastes. Aphrodite had become a little coy and blushed cutely when having to explain to Luke she had been considered to be completely his type of woman in both appearance and personality.

She probably would be, if he ever got to meet her in person. However, as pleasant as this getting-to-know-you conversation had been, being limited to Transatlantic video calls was going to frustrate Luke eventually. He didn't want to get emotionally invested in someone had no chance of a future with.

"Look, Aphrodite, I'm going to cut to the chase here" he eventually told his date with a sigh "You seem genuinely lovely, and you do appear to be my type, as far as I can tell. But is there any chance of this actually going anywhere?"

"I'm not sure what you man by that or how I'm supposed to answer?"

She seemed a little taken aback by the question, so Luke decided to explain himself as bluntly as he could.

"On two hearts you're supposed to make out with me. How do you suggest we do that over a laptop screen?"

"Obviously we can't. But what makes you assume all of our dates will be remote?"

"But aren't you over in the States?"

"I said I was from there originally, not that I live there now"

Again, Aphrodite stopped short of giving Luke the information he needed, something that seemed to be a real habit with her. It would have been so easy to say she was based in the UK now if that was the case, but she didn't.

"Okay, let's have an in person date at my place tomorrow, then?"

"I can't, not on one heart"

"Why not, all the other girls do"

"I'm not all the other girls"

Luke was starting to lose patience now.

"Aphrodite, I really genuinely would love to see you again. But only if it's in person. Otherwise I'm wasting my time here"

"Okay, I understand" she both looked and sounded crestfallen "I guess this is probably the end of our date then. I'm sorry it didn't meet your expectations"

The connection ended abruptly, and Luke instantly felt like shit.

So who was Aphrodite? Pure AI wizardry? An outstanding actress? Or a beautiful and genuine young woman who had just got dressed up and made time for a date with Luke, only to have been treated poorly because of potentially unfounded suspicions he couldn't get out of his head.

He logged back onto the app, deciding he should just ask her on another date there and then to make up for how that one had ended. She should accept dates from him whenever he wanted her to, according to the rules of the very app she was a part of.

He navigated to his Love List and quickly tracked Aphrodite down

She was now only on half a heart. She was no longer eligible for him to date.