In the era of rapid development of artificial intelligence and robotics，exploring intimate relationships between humans and robots is not only within the realm of technical research but also involves social and cultural reflections. The 1907 novel The Machine Wife，released by the New World Fiction Publishing Company，explores the complexity of human-robot emotional connections. The intimate human-machine relationship depicted in the work differs from the paradigm of human-machine love under the“Pygmalion complex”. Furthermore，the process of this intimate human-machine relationship can be analyzed as humans making“emotional investments”in robots that act as“mirrors”，obtaining responses through the reflection of the robot’s image，and ultimately achieving mutual love through“emotional transference”.

robot  /  human-machine love  /  intimacy  /  Pygmalion complex  /  emotional transference