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Artificial intelligence researcher David Levy says, “Love and sex with robots are inevitable.” The sex part is certainly a topic that has been explored and a practice that’s been predicted for some time. After all, love dolls already exist. And as soon as you introduce the idea of truly attractive robots, the possibility of sex comes to mind.
But love? That’s another matter. Yet, according to Levy, psychologist have identified about a dozen reasons people fall in love and most of them can work in human-robot relationships. Which means as robotics advance, people may have robots not only as sex toys, but as love interests.
I thought the new show AMC show Humans did a good job of raising the ethical problems of sex with robots, especially when you’re in a relationship. Most people in a relationship still masturbate, at least on occasion. And many of them use some toys or watch porn as part of self-pleasuring. If you don’t begrudge your lover her vibrator or his porn, will you feel differently if the sex aid is a robot?
I’m guessing that people’s willingness to share their partner with a machine will depend on just how realistic that machines is. Maybe it’s no big deal to you if the robot is just a glorified sex doll with motion. But what if it’s more sophisticated, maybe able (and of course willing) to play a persona and do things you aren’t? And what if it’s capable of romance, seduction, and mimicking love—arousing that thrilling, butterflies-in-the-stomach, can’t wait to see you again feeling in your partner?
Interesting to contemplate. What’s the limit for you?
Do you read fiction? I’m doing some reader surveys and randomly giving away $50 and $100 Amazon gift certificates to survey takers. Take my fantasy fiction survey, science fiction survey, or my thriller reader survey.
[boombox widget=”poll” id=”8A676uPpvEzjX7RgiqCzDXx4EhM” width=”100%” height=”auto”]
Do you read fiction? I’m doing some reader surveys and randomly giving away $50 and $100 Amazon gift certificates to survey takers. Take my fantasy fiction survey, science fiction survey, or my thriller reader survey.
(Photo credits:
By Photograph own work, mannequin created by www.dsdoll.com, with permission granted from dsdoll.com [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons (sex doll)
By Photo by Gnsin (Gnsin) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons (Japanese doll)
Ben Smith from Flickr’s Creative Commons photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/dotbenjamin/2765083201)