Love and Robots
I went as Pris from Blade Runner for Halloween. For those not familiar with the film, she's a "pleasure model" replicant--created specifically for human "entertainment." Little did I know that my Halloween costume represented a predicted reality of the near future. David Levy, a British AI researcher, has predicted that people will be falling in love with, having sex with, and even marrying robots within the next few decades. Can you imagine robot-human marriages being universally legal before same-sex marriage? And what about same-sex-robot-human marriages? But I digress.
Levy anticipates a world in which robots will be so humanlike that they'll be capable of carrying on intelligent conversations (in normal sounding voices), expressing a range of emotions, and responding naturally to social cues.
"Robots started out in factories making cars. There was no personal interaction," said Levy, who also is an International Chess Master who has been developing computer chess games for years. "Then people built mail cart robots, and then robotic dogs. Now robots are being made to care for the elderly. In the last 20 years, we've been moving toward robots that have more relationships with humans, and it will keep growing toward a more emotional relationship, a more loving one and a sexual one."
Yes, Levy was quick to say that humans will have sexual relationships with robots, perhaps within five years -- sooner than most might think.
"Pleasure models" like Pris (minus the enticing personality)--basically robotic sex slaves--will be much easier to create than well-rounded human companions.
Levy said the biggest advancement in robotics will come in the form of enabling a robot to carry on an interesting conversation, have self-awareness and emotional capabilities.
Levy also estimated that robots will be able to have interesting conversations -- not yet at the level of a college graduate but enjoyable -- within 15 years. In 20 or 30 years, however, he expects them to carry on sophisticated conversations.
Soon, perhaps we won't be able to easily tell these replicants apart from actual humans. Better give 'em a short life span. Levy goes into great detail on the subject in his forthcoming book, Love and Sex with Robots, which will be released on November 6.
