with the publication of David Levy’s Love and Sex with Robots in 2008, more people than probably should have started thinking about the precisely those things in the future. will it be possible to have meaningful, even romantic relationships with robots in the future? is this an inevitability? what, then, is the future of human relationships?
while the answers to these questions may still be uncertain, one thing is sure: people will definitely be banging robots (which, by the way, is going to make it pretty awkward if/when they become self-aware…). after all, if a disproportionate amount of money and medical research has gone into guaranteeing that men way past their reproductive prime can still have sex, then we’d be kidding ourselves to think that a good deal of money won’t find its way into this area of “research,” wherever it may come from.
the latest development, in any case, comes from Germany, where the company First Androids has created a sex doll that breathes, has a pulse, and responds to organism (it comes equipped with a fake g-spot). oh, and it can be put into multiple positions, of course.
over at Jezebel, Kate Harding discusses some of the glaring problems of these types of dolls, particulary the extent to which “they’ll only contribute to a thriving culture of misogyny that reinforces unhinged lonely dudes’ belief that women’s ability to refuse sex is an abstract problem to be solved.” She continues,
There’s nothing inherently wrong with banging an inanimate object — who among us hasn’t? But there’s a lot wrong with blurring the line between inanimate object and female human being so aggressively that the primary distinction becomes her capacity for consent — and the lack thereof becomes the fake version’s chief selling point. There’s a big difference between wanting to simulate the bullet points of real sex, and wanting to simulate every last detail save the humanity of the person you’re screwing. [emphasis added]
of course, this is based on an understanding of sex dolls as a temporary replacement for real sex with real women — but what happens when sex robots (or robots more generally, with which we just happen to have sex) replace relations with the opposite sex entirely?
in a 1997 article discussed at Paleo-future, Joel Snell wrote about some of the potential impacts of sex with robots in the future. among the consequences, he foresaw “technovirgins” — those who have never had sex with another human being — addiction to sex with robots, experimentation with sexual orientation, and perhaps the destruction of existing marriages (not to mention their prevention). the troubling thing here, once again, is the prevalent idea — seen as an incentive — that sexbots “won’t say no” and “will never have a headache or demand alimony.” yikes.
will sex with robots replace sex with other human beings? it seems doubtful as long as people still crave love and genuine interaction with other people — consent and all — especially since there’s more to sex than a relatively warm body stored conveniently nearby. but what happens if/when we begin to have genuine interactions and emotional relationships with robots in general?
this, obviously.
and it will be our only hope.
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