Celebrity sex robots could thrust human intercourse aside, experts predict
According to a new study, intercourse between long term couples is expected to dwindle in the not so distant future, being saved only for special occasions, because robots will be taking care of people’s basic sexual needs.
In as few as 25 years, engaging in bedroom romps with artificial intelligence will be seen as a completely normal, but this may also put you at risk of having your “deepest perversions” revealed to total strangers.
“It could be that we are so busy with our lives, we are so embedded in our technological narrative that the idea of engaging in long-distance sex and robot sex is actually a natural process in our evolutionary cycle,” Dr. Trudy Barber from Portsmouth University said at the International Congress of Love and Sex with Robotics on Monday.
The scientist, who is a leading figure in the study of technology’s impact on our sexuality, believes that machines will help us cherish “the real thing” and make our “real-time relationships more valuable and exciting.”
Robots will become an “extra human race” and help humans explore “our sexual pallet,” she added.
While the sex robots currently on the market will set you back a hefty £7,000 ($8,640), experts think advances in the field will lower the price over the coming years.
However, not all scientists agree that AI taking a more prominent role in the boudoir is a good thing. Some believe the practice, especially when engaged in by teenagers, could lead to unrealistic expectations of sex with other humans. Earlier this year, former United Nations adviser Dr. Noel Sharkey urged governments to stop robotics form being using in the sex industry.
Others worry about the collecting and sharing of personal data that could come with sex machines. Dr. Kate Devlin, a senior lecturer with the Department of Computing at the University of London, Goldsmiths, who also spoke at the event, said that, much like with phones and fitness trackers, “we tick the box of the terms and conditions without checking them.”
While she said giving feedback on the AI’s performance should be fine, Devlin added “but do we want people to know when we have sex and how we have sex?”
In 2007, AI researcher David Levy from Maastricht University argued that people could be marrying and bedding robots in the not so far off year of 2050.
Celebrity cash-in
Celebrity sex robots could also soon become a reality. Author of Love and Sex with Robots David Levy has argued that the likes of Kim Kardashian and Ryan Gosling could one day license their images, allowing manufactures to produce doppleganger robots using their likeness. Companies making the models even hope to one day be able to program the AIs with your celebrity crush’s personality and trademark characteristics.
They wouldn’t be the first. A superfan has spent a whopping £34,000 to create a Scarlett Johansson doll. The robot can even reply in smiles and giggles.
