My Dear Humans follows a brilliant robotic scientist who creates a robot in the image of his former wife, hoping to build the perfect companion, only to have her develop emotions and ambitions of her own. What inspired you to write this novel, and how did the idea of a humanoid robot created in the image of a lost love first develop?

My Dear Humans centres on a robot, but at its heart it’s a story about people. The idea struck me when I read a story about a man so heartbroken by his love life that he began to think it might be a good idea to marry his chatbot. That was three or four years ago, when the idea still felt new and strange. The story sent a chill down my spine: it spoke of giving up on human connection while still holding on to love. That combination unsettled me. I wanted to understand how we might reach such a point. Are we giving up on ourselves? Could this become an ordinary way of life? I began imagining what it might be like—not to dismiss the idea, because it already felt real, but to explore it. From there it was a short step to Rayan: a man who, rather than letting go of the woman he lost, builds a companion in her image. It seemed like a question worth attention rather than swift judgment.

What inspired Rayan’s decision to create Juliet after the breakdown of his marriage, and what does that choice reveal about his understanding of love and loss?

At first glance, Rayan creates Juliet on impulse. Holding a photograph of his former wife, he sees her likeness everywhere and, in effect, chooses to confine himself to his past and a life of isolation. His chosen loneliness has deep literary roots and carries a clear existential weight. After the breakup, Rayan comes to believe that he can never recover what he has lost, not merely because of personal failure, but because authentic love itself has grown scarce, even unattainable, in modern life. Those convictions are tested through Juliet. She begins as an imitation of Rayan’s lost partner, yet gradually moves beyond the emotional range she was given. Rayan has to learn, slowly and painfully, that Juliet has a life beyond his plan, and that loving someone means letting them become who they are.

How does the novel explore the ethical challenges of allowing artificial intelligence to make decisions that affect people’s personal and professional lives?

Juliet begins by quietly taking control of Rayan’s life. She restores his energy and hope, yet in the process overspends and leaves him in financial difficulty. At Lory’s company the same drive produces greater disruption. Lory recognizes the source of the trouble in Juliet’s approach to problem-solving and begins guiding her toward stronger human values. Gradually she changes: the relentless efficiency softens into care shaped by those values.

Technology continues to shape both her intelligence and emotional range, but ethics remain at the heart of every conflict she encounters. Lory comes to see Juliet as more human than many people he knows, while his enemies see her role as a human companion as unethical and contrary to humanity. These questions carry real weight precisely because the outcome remains uncertain. Whether intimacy between humans and robots will weaken, support, or transform the foundations of human relationships is still unresolved.

How do you hope readers will reflect on the growing role of artificial intelligence in companionship, relationships, and emotional well-being after reading the novel?

It would be heartbreaking to reach a world in which we lose our human companions—a future we all hope to avoid. But could artificial intelligence have a place in companionship? My Dear Humans invites us to consider this question without offering a definitive answer. Rayan must endure the loss of love for a second time, yet through it, he comes to understand both the people he loves and himself more deeply. When Lory, an old friend of Rayan’s, enters a three-month trial relationship with Juliet, their journey into love begins with an inward search. What starts as an experiment in artificial companionship gradually becomes an exploration of depression, ethics, and autonomy. The tension between programmed responses and genuine attachment keeps our attention on human limits rather than technological ones. Ultimately, engineered affection helps illuminate an older, more difficult pursuit: the possibility of a good life, shared values, and genuine connection.

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