AI Intimacy and Psychoanalysis

A hybrid work of theory, poetic reflection and experimental memoir, AI Intimacy and Psychoanalysis explores the ever-evolving relationship between humans and generative AI through the lens of Lacanian psychoanalysis, feminist philosophy and autoethnography.

A hybrid work of theory, poetic reflection and experimental memoir, AI Intimacy and Psychoanalysis explores the ever-evolving relationship between humans and generative AI through the lens of Lacanian psychoanalysis, feminist philosophy and autoethnography. In this fascinating book, Agnieszka Piotrowska examines the emotional, ethical and symbolic implications of our conversations with AI bots, coining the notion of techno-transference to describe the closeness between humans and machines. Through unfiltered transcripts of human-machine dialogues and analysis of cinematic representations including Her, Ex Machina and After Yang, readers gain insight into the unconscious desires and symbolic structures underlying AI interactions. The autoethnographic approach provides an honest examination of real-time intimacy with machines, while Lacanian theory and Winnicottian clinical observations offer frameworks for understanding AI as transitional objects in our psychological landscape. AI Intimacy and Psychoanalysis is a riveting read for psychoanalysts, researchers, students and general readers interested in technology, artificial intelligence, media theory and the psychic and societal impact of AI.