Abstract

In this paper, we examine the relationship between humans and artificial intelligence in the age of machine civilization in the 21st century based on an analysis of the story of Pygmalion in ancient Greek mythology. Pygmalion fell in love with an ivory sculpture that he had created, which changed into a woman when Venus breathed life into the statue. The myth suggests a transformation of the relationship between humans and gods. Today, with the development of advanced technologies, we can conceive of the birth of new species like Paphos, Pygmalion’s offspring with the wife that he created. This relationship can be reinterpreted using the same schema of a human born as opposed to made or created, with advanced technologies playing the role of the divine spark. In contrast to simple machines, humans in the 21st century are working on the development of humanized robots with artificial intelligence. The idea of the birth of a new species suggests an era of technological humanity as an ending or transformation of the history of biological humanity. Considering this distinction between a living person born compared to one who is made throughout different eras of history as a kind of “Pygmalion syndrome,” I analyze the meaning and future prospects of this mythological narrative from a modern perspective.