Robosexuals: How close are we to the inevitable era of artificial intelligence-driven sex robots?

Robosexuals eagerly await the promised arrival of sophisticated sex robots: talking, walking dolls that can carry a conversation, discern what a user wants, and give it to them…. Within a few short years, we are promised, more life-like skin, more fluid movement and artificial intelligence (AI)-enhanced personalities will pull robots out of their closets and thrust them into the mainstream.

Many people find the idea of digital lovers unsettling. Some fear being replaced. For others, there’s a concern about how interacting with sexy, friendly robots and VR technologies might change – for the worse – the ways in which people interact with one another.

In discussing these concerns, people often reassure themselves by naming something quintessentially human that machines cannot do. They can touch us, but not with human tenderness. They might move and moan with apparent pleasure, but never initiate a new or surprising position. They could fool us into treating them with affection, but never make us think we are in love.

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As AI, robotics and VR improve, a growing number of people are likely to find that what technology offers is better than what the offline world provides them. Machines don’t have to become perfect anatomic, psychological and erotic simulacra to capture people’s interest.

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