Would you use it? A new film features a machine that tells couples whether they are truly in love with one another. It could make the world better. Or it could make love boring.
Imagine a machine to find 100% perfect love
Would you use it? A new film features a machine that tells couples whether they are truly in love with one another. It could make the world better. Or it could make love boring.
Anna and Ryan are the perfect couple. They have scientific proof. A few years ago, the pair took part in a new test. They each tore off a fingernail and put it in a machine that assesses their compatibility. Anna and Ryan scored a perfect 100%.1
Yet Anna is restless. Her life with Ryan has become stale. She takes a job at the Love Institute, conducting experiments to assess other couples. And she begins to develop feelings for the doctor Amir, who has never himself managed to find his 100% match. Maybe her own relationship is not so perfect after all?
This is the premise of Fingernails, a new film by Greek director Christos Nikou. It has met mixed reviews.2 But critics agree that it has a fascinating central concept. What if we had a machine that could tell us if we were truly in love?
It is the stuff of science fiction. But it may not be so far away. Dating apps already assess how compatible people are based on their user history and conversations. But the Fingernails machine would be an enormous advance.
It could stop others from staying in ill-fitting relationships. There are thousands of divorces and break-ups each year.3 The machine could prevent incompatible couples from marrying in the first place.
It could also help people come to terms with unrequited love. If someone is in love with you but the feeling is not returned, take the test with them to clear the air.
In Thomas HardyAn English novelist and poet.'s Far From the Madding Crowd, William Boldwood becomes dangerously obsessed with Bathsheba Everdene.4 Machine-generated proof could have helped him move on.
Yet there are downsides to being informed. Love is not always at first sight. People change. Feelings develop. When Elizabeth Bennet meets Mr. Darcy in Jane AustenAn English novelist most famous for writing Pride and Prejudice.'s Pride and Prejudice, they form an instant dislike. They would have scored 0%. But by the novel's end, they realise they are a perfect match.
Love is stranger and more complex than a number. As Shirley Li writes in The Atlantic: "Love is a fragile, intangible bundle of contradictions - something at once beautiful and terrible, invigorating and agonising, joyful and melancholyA feeling of sadness.."
The machine might spare people unhappiness. But it might take much more away.
<h5 class="wp-block-heading eplus-wrapper" id="question"><strong>Would you use it?</strong></h5>
Yes: The fingernail machine is just the start. Imagine if we had devices that could detect all our emotions and help us manage them. Machines can improve our lives by teaching us more about ourselves.
No: The machine is the start of a slippery slope. What if we began assigning ratings to people's personalities and abilities? It might lead to a world where our lives are controlled by numbers.
Or... Love is not a number. It is not a constant state but a voyage, ebbing and flowing over time, mixing the good and the bad. This is its beauty. A machine-generated score misses the point completely.
Thomas Hardy - An English novelist and poet.
Jane Austen - An English novelist most famous for writing Pride and Prejudice.
Melancholy - A feeling of sadness.
Imagine a machine to find 100% perfect love

Glossary
Thomas Hardy - An English novelist and poet.
Jane Austen - An English novelist most famous for writing Pride and Prejudice.
Melancholy - A feeling of sadness.