Forecast: Sex and Marriage With Robots by 2050

Tyrael · #1 15th-October-2007

Quote:

Humans could marry robots within the century. And consummate those vows.

Monday, October 15, 2007

By Charles Q. Choi

"My forecast is that around 2050, the state of Massachusetts will be the first jurisdiction to legalize marriages with robots," artificial intelligence researcher David Levy at the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands told LiveScience.

Levy recently completed his Ph.D. work on the subject of human-robot relationships, covering many of the privileges and practices that generally come with marriage as well as outside of it.

At first, sex with robots might be considered geeky, "but once you have a story like 'I had sex with a robot, and it was great!' appear someplace like Cosmo magazine, I'd expect many people to jump on the bandwagon," Levy said.

Pygmalion to Roomba

The idea of romance between humanity and our artistic and/or mechanical creations dates back to ancient times, with the Greek myth of the sculptor Pygmalion falling in love with the ivory statue he made named Galatea, to which the goddess Venus eventually granted life.

This notion persists in modern times. Not only has science fiction explored this idea, but 40 years ago, scientists noticed that students at times became unusually attracted to ELIZA, a computer program designed to ask questions and mimic a psychotherapist.

"There's a trend of robots becoming more human-like in appearance and coming more in contact with humans," Levy said. "At first robots were used impersonally, in factories where they helped build automobiles, for instance. Then they were used in offices to deliver mail, or to show visitors around museums, or in homes as vacuum cleaners, such as with the Roomba. Now you have robot toys, like Sony's Aibo robot dog, or Tickle Me Elmos, or digital pets like Tamagotchis."

In his thesis, "Intimate Relationships with Artificial Partners," Levy conjectures that robots will become so human-like in appearance, function and personality that many people will fall in love with them, have sex with them and even marry them.

"It may sound a little weird, but it isn't," Levy said. "Love and sex with robots are inevitable."

Sex in 5 years

Levy argues that psychologists have identified roughly a dozen basic reasons why people fall in love, "and almost all of them could apply to human-robot relationships. For instance, one thing that prompts people to fall in love are similarities in personality and knowledge, and all of this is programmable. Another reason people are more likely to fall in love is if they know the other person likes them, and that's programmable too."

In 2006, Henrik Christensen, founder of the European Robotics Research Network, predicted that people will be having sex with robots within five years, and Levy thinks that's quite likely.

There are companies that already sell realistic sex dolls, "and it's just a matter of adding some electronics to them to add some vibration," he said, or endowing the robots with a few audio responses. "That's fairly primitive in terms of robotics, but the technology is already there."

As software becomes more advanced and the relationship between humans and robots becomes more personal, marriage could result.

"One hundred years ago, interracial marriage and same-sex marriages were illegal in the United States. Interracial marriage has been legal now for 50 years, and same-sex marriage is legal in some parts of the states," Levy said. "There has been this trend in marriage where each partner gets to make their own choice of who they want to be with."

"The question is not if this will happen, but when," Levy said. "I am convinced the answer is much earlier than you think."

When and where it'll happen

Levy predicts Massachusetts will be the first jurisdiction to legalize human-robot marriage.

"Massachusetts is more liberal than most other jurisdictions in the United States and has been at the forefront of same-sex marriage," Levy said. "There's also a lot of high-tech research there at places like MIT."

Although roboticist Ronald Arkin at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta does not think human-robot marriages will be legal anywhere by 2050, "anything's possible. And just because it's not legal doesn't mean people won't try it," he told LiveScience.

"Humans are very unusual creatures," Arkin said. "If you ask me if every human will want to marry a robot, my answer is probably not. But will there be a subset of people? There are people ready right now to marry sex toys."

The main benefit of human-robot marriage could be to make people who otherwise could not get married happier, "people who find it hard to form relationships, because they are extremely shy, or have psychological problems, or are just plain ugly or have unpleasant personalities," Levy said. "Of course, such people who completely give up the idea of forming relationships with other people are going to be few and far between, but they will be out there."

Ethical questions

The possibility of sex with robots could prove a mixed bag for humanity. For instance, robot sex could provide an outlet for criminal sexual urges.

"If you have pedophiles and you let them use a robotic child, will that reduce the incidence of them abusing real children, or will it increase it?" Arkin asked. "I don't think anyone has the answers for that yet — that's where future research needs to be done."

Keeping a robot for sex could reduce human prostitution and the problems that come with it.

However, "in a marriage or other relationship, one partner could be jealous or consider it infidelity if the other used a robot," Levy said. "But who knows, maybe some other relationships could welcome a robot. Instead of a woman saying, 'Darling, not tonight, I have a headache,' you could get 'Darling, I have a headache, why not use your robot?'"

Arkin noted that "if we allow robots to become a part of everyday life and bond with them, we'll have to ask questions about what's going to happen to our social fabric. How will they change humanity and civilization? I don't have any answers, but I think it's something we need to study. There's a real potential for intimacy here, where humans become psychologically and emotionally attached to these devices in ways we wouldn't to a vibrator."

Levy is currently writing a paper on the ethical treatment of robots. When it comes to sex and love with robots, "the ethical issues on how to treat them are something we'll have to consider very seriously, and they're very complicated issues," Levy said.

Levy successfully defended his thesis Oct. 11.

Copyright © 2007 Imaginova Corp. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Article source.

Yan Yan · #2 15th-October-2007

"Brave New World"

Meanwhile ordinary folk will keep on rootin' an' breedin' and raisin' families that mean a fair bit more to them than the electicity bill for a sex-robot.

Anybody want to take bets on the eventual outcome?

Tyrael · #3 15th-October-2007

You could theoretically put a artificial womb in a robot that looks like a human female and presto.

**Percy** · #4 15th-October-2007

Quote:

"Massachusetts is more liberal than most other jurisdictions in the United States

Massachusetts is more liable to Institutionalise perversion, he means. Their legislature is corrupt to the core. To them, nothing is Holy. There is no destruction of humanity that they would not contemplate. What difference can one discern between them and Nazi Germany?

Billy · #5 15th-October-2007

I'm sure they could program the fembots with nagging sessions so a man won't feel completely alienated from the real thing.

I got a friend who needs this bot. As soon as his child was born she refused to have sex even though she was gutted and can't have anymore babies. A visit to the shrink brought out facts like her previous two marriages was sexless too and she just lost the desire after each honeymoon. It seem as though she knew she would make his marriage miserable. She still expects him to do things to make her happy though. Most women ony bring misery to the marriage table.

Serh Typisch!

`

Adrian · #6 15th-October-2007

"Honey, I have a headache, why not use your robot?"

LMAO!

But seriously, I could totally get into something like this. I can just have a sexbot for a lover and then for kids, could I just make a couple clones to raise up from childhood?

Wallet · #7 14th-February-2008

Quote:

"In the mood for a little skin-to-skin?" coos a lover slipping between the sheets.

"Not tonight," mumbles the partner, turning around. "Just make it with the robot, if you want."

A kinky sci-fi fantasy? Love and lust in the 23rd century?

Not at all, says David Levy, a professor of gender studies and artificial intelligence and author of "Sex with Robots: The Evolution of Human-Robot Relations."

By mid-century, predicts the 62-year-old expert, getting it on with an electronic femme-fatale or a superstud sexbot will become an accepted part of the human landscape.

"Think of it: great sex on tap, 24/7," he said. People may even fall in love with their hard-wired sex slaves, he adds.

Not everyone embraces Levy's vision of a future where humanoids guarantee satisfaction in bed along with pre-programmed post-coital conversation.

But many agree it is on the cards, given exponential leaps in computer power, progress in mimicking human muscles and movements, and headway in artificial intelligence (AI) software to replicate emotions and personality.

"Already today, the best quality synthetic voices cannot be distinguished from human voices," Levy told Agence France-Presse, adding that some artificial skins now rival the smoothest of baby bottoms.

Last November, researchers at Waseda University in Japan unveiled a robot, named Twendy-One, that can cook, talk, obey verbal commands, and use its soft silicon-wrapped hands -- each equipped with 241 pressure sensors -- to interact with humans.

In a way it sounds pretty good.....ha

Article continued here

bobx23456 · #8 14th-February-2008

Marriage is about the biological union that creates children. A human playing with a machine is not a "marriage." It can not be consummated by making a child. Only in MA are the "professors" so stupid that they have no clue about even the most simple facts of life.

Blessings

Bob

**bachelor tom** · #9 14th-February-2008

I'm starting to believe that most Western women are terrified of pregnancy. Isn't this the root of a lot of feminist behaviour, rationalizing their fear of childbirth?

AKUUS · #10 14th-February-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobx23456

Only in MA are the "professors" so stupid that they have no clue about even the most simple facts of life.
Bob

...artificial intelligence researcher David Levy at the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands told LiveScience.

Levy recently completed his Ph.D. work on the subject of human-robot relationships, covering many of the privileges and practices that generally come with marriage as well as outside of it.

Billy · #11 14th-February-2008

Like feminism the robotic relationships would slow the population growth.

The elite believe the world is overcrowed.
I agree and think feminist and politicians should be blasted to the nearest planet on the next space shuttle.