The ubiquity of information and communication technologies (ICT) has transformed the human experience. In addition, the ‘hyper- connected era’ or ‘era of cyberization’ that emerged following the concepts of computerization and informatization is considered to be a reformation of the present physical, social, and mental worlds. In particular, in the process of cyberization, cyberspace has emerged as an unprecedented digital space in addition to the conventional spaces, and furthermore has brought a new global digital environment called the cyberworld. Its most decisive change could be said to involve the replacement of the traditional concept of man as a separate entity with ‘new ontological self-perception of human beings as an information organism’ interconnected with the whole world. Therefore, technological advancements are contributing to the expansion and realization of our identity.
Richard Jordan's Machina (2014) explores the loss and intimacy of the digital age, set in today's “uncomfortably familiar world of carefully -constructed online profiles and disposable digital relationships”. Machina takes place a month after the central character, David Sergeant, uploaded his consciousness to the social network in a process called “Go Inside”. In this new, experimental and irreversible process, users “abandon the need for a physical body and gain a kind of digital immortality in the cloud.” Machina raises the question of why this promising young man committed the equivalent social suicide as David's family, friends, and ex-lovers struggle to accept his physical absence.
Machina's ambiguous approach to physical and virtual interaction demonstrates the essence of ‘digital intimacy’. This thesis suggests the relationship between the characters' actions and technology in the digital environment where affective computing and artificial intimacy of the cyberworld are inherent in Jordan's Machina, and the effect of technology on their current lives and identities and seeks solutions to the problems that humans and technology will bring.