I, Love Robot

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Friday, 15 February 2008 10:34

Opinion and Analysis

No, it’s not an x-rated sequel to Isaac Asimov’s classic “I, Robot” series, but instead an article about David Levy’s new book, ‘Love and Sex with Robots’.

Do androids dream of human lovers? Or only electric sheep? Do humans dream of sex with robots? While we don’t know the answer to the first two questions, author and artificial intelligence expert David Levy was clearly thinking about the third question when he wrote his new book, ‘Love and Sex with Robots’.

Available through Harper Collins, Levy predicts that by the end of the century, love and sex with robots will be commonplace, in a book that explores a new level of human intimacy and relationships with machines.

Far from machines taking over the world Terminator style, it sounds like some robots’ only conquests will be in the bedroom, where 21st century battles with technology may simply be over who gets to be on top.

According to the Harper Collins site, David Levy has “used examples drawn from around the world, David Levy shows how automata have evolved from the mechanical marvels of centuries past to the electronic androids of the modern age, and how human interactions with technology have changed over the years”.

In his book, Levy “explores many aspects of human relationships—the reasons we fall in love, why we form emotional attachments to animals and to virtual pets such as the Tamagotchi, and why these same attachments could extend to love for robots”.

So, who would want to use the services of a sex robot? Please read onto page 2.