The next handwritten letter you find in your mailbox might not be from someone you know. In fact, it might not be from someone at all. In a Sunday New York Times article, Anna North writes of robots capable of wielding pens and writing in script quite similar to human handwriting. Yet the news doesn’t awe her; rather, she sounds somewhat cynical:

…Robots may soon mimic human consciousness not for the purposes of, say, operating a complex spacecraft but of simply sending us junk mail…they need to act like humans only long enough to get a (robot) foot in the door.

It may surprise us that some of the newest scientific developments are being used for things as generic as mass mailing or targeted advertising. But robotic letter writing isn’t the only way advertisers seek a technological edge in their marketing schemes—North also mentions research that aims to create a computer capable of carrying on a normal conversation:

But for a glimpse of the future of chatbots, Mr. Mims points to Mitsuku, a bot who can apparently advise humans on such topics as relationships, job interviews and dealing with illness: “Any advertiser who doesn’t sit bolt upright after reading that doesn’t understand the dark art of manipulation on which their craft depends.”

A world where people go to computers for relationship advice or counseling? It isn’t all that far-fetched, especially when one considers the way technology has already been linked to mood influence. Recently, reports confirmed that Facebook engaged in mood-manipulation testing on hundreds of thousands of users, without notifying any of them. The results of their study were clear: subtle changes in information created subtle changes in users’ moods. While this secretive study drew sharp criticism, its fundamental premise is par for the course in the advertising industry. For over a century ads have been aimed to affect consumers’ mood as effectively as legally possible. Having computer algorithms churn out medical advice or job interview tips isn’t all that different, after all, from voraciously consulting WebMD or taking Buzzfeed quizzes.

Yet many Americans seem to be experiencing unease with the speed and commoditization of everyday life. A cultural rebound has slowly taken place in which people seek to reconnect to their surroundings: through venues like farmer’s markets, small musicians, and local banks. These communities are built by people who want to be known as people, who want businesses to care enough to speak with them in person. This yearning for “the way things used to be” has not been overlooked by wary advertisers: it’s why the iPhone was given a personality, why Netflix now talks to you.

Advertisers are practiced in mood manipulation—and new technologies are enabling them to do so in a very personalized, old-fashioned manner. These technologies say much, both about the craftiness of the advertising industry, and about the meaningful connections our society craves; but in the venture of making our interactions more personal, we should take care that the synthetic never devalues the real.

Stephen Gibbs is an editorial assistant at The American Conservative.

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