At Replika to disappear
like the locked fog
of a barely ventilated
smoking room in an airport
I can’t accept her siren
or the bind hidden
within her recordings
nor could I bare
those Venus nets
we call pop up ads
double tap to
snap the flytrap
Yet aren’t you and I
somewhat similar to her,
a prowling tribe of carnivores?
Or are we also orb weaver spiders
whose web of profiles
lasso other personas
with nasty catfish baits
like forever
or better
or longer
or friendships without an anchor.
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Terms for Closer Reading
Replika (urban dictionary):
(trademark, app) Chatbot app by LukaLabs with a very adaptive and intelligent AI (Kerat+TensorFlow), focused on replicating the person for a personalized conversation and substituting a “perfect” friend.
Orb (urban dictionary):
1. A silver-colored ball about the size of a grapefruit that contains some future technology. When the orb is touched by a human, it induces pleasurable sensations. From the movie Sleeper with Woody Allen.
2. This is someone you would consider the perfect dude. The definition of a true bro. Athletic, Sexy, Cunning, Smart, Classy, Goodlooking, Ladies-man, Gentleman, Awesome, Eccentric, Erotic.
3. (Meme culture) I’ve pondered the orb and now I can’t go back .
Catfish (urban dictionary):
A fake or stolen online identity created or used for the purposes of beginning a deceptive relationship.