Shocking revelations question whether your other half could leave you for a sex robot that fulfils their every desires and is “enormously” more attractive than you
BY MARGI MURPHY 20th December 2016, 10:34 am – The Sun
FORGET sex robots, within 30 years humans will be falling in love and even marrying artificially intelligent cyborgs because they will be “more attractive than humans” a top academic has claimed.
“The first marriage will be before, not after 2050,” best-selling author and robot expert Dr David Levy said during the Love and Sex with Robots conference in Goldsmith’s University, London this week.
Wedding Sex robots will overthrow brides and hubbies as we will eventually find them MORE attractive
He said: “Sex and love with robots at a human level may appear to be a long way off, but the future has a way of laughing at you.”
Dr Levy believes that thanks to artificial intelligence, in which a machine can learn exactly types of sexual desires humans enjoy, means sex will become “more sophisticated” and “more enjoyable” with a robot.
If the likes of Angelina Jolie or Scarlett Johannson license their likeness, their android versions could be waltzing up the aisles within 30 years’ time.
SCIENTISTS are creating robot heads that let you virtually kiss someone anywhere in the world and even smell their saliva.
Silicon dolls will move lips to provide real-time snogging simulations through your mobile phone.
They will work using software from Kissenger, which is the world’s first mobile kiss messenger.
The mobile app has been around for a while and allows two people to get intimate on the web using mouthpieces connected to your phone.
Kinky long-distancers who want their Facetiming or Skyping to get a bit steamy simply put their lips on the device.
It works by sensing the lip pressure of the user and send it in real time to their partner’s mobile phone which will make their own plastic lip pad move in time.
But now the developers are creating silicon heads which work in a similar way, so there’s no need for your girlfriend to ever be around.
You can put your partners body odour or perfume in the device so you can smell while you smooch too.
So if you’ve ever had a crush on Lara Croft, a virtual smooch could be on the cards in the very near future.
The incredible development was revealed at the second Love and Sex Robot conference at Goldsmith’s University on Monday.
Emma Yann Zhang, who is working on the development said: “We want to make a robotic head with silicon to make a fully kissable robot using the same technology as the mobile phone version.
“We’ll embed control sensors in the robot’s head instead.”
SEX WORKERS will be given sex robots and virtual reality sex toys to ensure they are “top of the market”, experts have revealed.
Brothels and escort agencies will “invest” in sex robots and create scenes plucked straight from an episode of dystopian telly hit Westworld, an academic researching the UK sex industry claimed.
High-end escorts are likely to invest in emerging sex tech, according to the experts. There are sites like makemoneyadultcontent.com which have the best information on the top escorts sites, and one of them might be offering sex robots as an option in the near future.
Eleanor Hancock, is working with dozens of sex workers and escort agencies like Carman Fox in the north-west of England as part of a study, revealed that “sex workers will completely adopt new sex technology coming out”.
“Why would a sex worker not jump on this technology?”
It’s likely that flush escort agencies will pay for sex robots or teledildonic sex toys that are expected to fetch up to £12,000 when they are released on the market.
It’s likely that flush escort agencies will pay for sex robots that are expected to fetch up to £12,000 when they hit the market along with high-tech sex toys like remotely controlled teledildos.
But rather than take over brothels, the robots will work alongside the prostitutes so it can “learn”, Hancock added.
Using sex robots for “leisure sex” come with the added benefit of safer experiences.
But it also means cheating partners are more likely to “get away with it,” computer expert Dr Lynne Hall said during the the Love and Sex with Robots conference at Goldsmith’s University, London on Tuesday.
She revealed: “There are obvious benefits to this if the sex provides the required arousal and experience whilst avoiding potential dangers of intimate engagement, such as disease or unpleasant encounters, and of course some of the social consequences of getting ‘caught’.”
But she believes sex robots primary function will be in porn.
Virtual reality and teledildonics will be a massive contributor, she added.
Take, for example, Pornhubs’s Twerking Butt, which includes a VR headset, sex toy and a range of sexual encounters to simulate.
Saddos only? Nope, happily married dudes just as keen apparently
Well over a third of men would happily splash out on a humanoid sex robot in the near future, academics have found – despite there being no viable product on the market right now.
Researchers from the University Duisburg-Essen quizzed 263 chaps on their robo-amorous leanings, and co-author Jessica Szczuka presented their findings at the Love and Sex and Robots Conference at Goldsmith’s University yesterday.
They found that a stonking 40.3 per cent of the sample said they would “buy such a robot now or within the next five years.” Just to be clear, for the purposes of the survey, the researchers said sex robots can be understood as android robots (robotic replicated women or men) that are “built to satisfy sexual needs.”
“For this purpose,” the researchers continued, “the robots do not only provide replications of some secondary sexual characteristics (e.g. breasts), but also external genitals (e.g. labia). As this description would also be suitable for hyper realistic sex dolls, sex robots are also capable to move (especially with respect to movements that are important with regard to the fulfilment of sexual needs) and speak.” The latter of which might suppose some form of AI.
As the researchers note, “At present, there is no sex robot available that is suitable for the masses and that provides all the features listed above.” And if and when they do appear, they’re not going to be cheap.
You might immediately summon up a mental image of who is most likely to put such a non-existent product at the top of their shopping list, and we’re guessing there’s a pizza-stained T-shirt and a possible lack of personal grooming involved.
However, this isn’t borne out by the research. The paper says the 40.3 per cent figure “highlights that sex robots could be of interest for more than only a fringe group.”
Even more surprising perhaps, whether respondents were already in a relationship, or had a fulfilling sexual life, had no bearing on their (potential) feelings towards robo-playmates. Similarly, general loneliness had no particular bearing on respondents’ interest in sex bots.
Rather, pre-existing attitudes towards robots and “anthropomorphic tendencies” ie, the “tendency to ascribe human characteristics to non-human objects” appeared to be the strongest indicators of the desire to buy sex robot.
Put plainly, people who are already wary of robots are unlikely to want to have sex with one. Likewise, the fact that people who already had a tendency to anthropomorphise objects – perhaps becoming overly attached with their cars, for example – definitely wanted to move beyond just liking robots. Though the researchers also speculated that “it could be imaginable that clients who pay a lot for sex robots are aware of the fact that robots are non-human, which could prevent their evaluations from falling into the uncanny valley.”
This is all just the beginning. The researchers accept that the study could be improved with a wider sample, and say “it should be a long-term goal to investigate real interactions between humans and sex robots. And let’s be honest, someone needs to actually invent a viable sex robot before things move from wish list to shopping list. ®
Ethics expert has built ladybird-sparing vacuum cleaner
The possibility of sex robots over-exerting their human lovers to the point of collapse is just one of the ethical conundrums academics and society need to get their head round, a Swiss academic told a conference on sex robots today.
Oliver Bendel, of the University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Northwestern Switzerland, told the Love and Sex and Robots Conference at Goldsmith’s University, that the full range of machine ethics questions can – and should – be applied to sex robots.
Machine ethics sees machines – whether self-driving cars, chatbots, military drones, and presumably, your basic pleasure model – as potential moral agents in their own right, he said.
This raised the question of whether sex robots should have moral skills, in addition to their other more tangible skills, and “if so, which ones?” If they did, he continued, should these be simple “duty ethics” or should they also be mindful of the consequences of their decisions. Could robots enter into contracts?
Certain questions were particularly pertinent, he continued.
These included whether sex robots should be able to “entice” users. This is not just a question or applying some hair gel and a happy-go-lucky expression. Just imagine all the wiles of Google, or mobile games makers, applied to enticing you to keep pressing that button…or whatever.
Another key issue, he said, was whether robots should have the capability of “refusal” in “extreme” circumstance. Similarly, he continued, should robots be compelled to reveal they are, indeed, robots.
Other, arguably less elevated questions, included whether the sex robot should be “available” to a human at all times – something unlikely with most human lovers. At the same time, he asked, how should issues of shame on the part of the human partner be considered – and indeed where would the use of sex robots be considered unacceptable.
The proliferation of sex-robots – presumably able to incorporate data and feedback to constantly up their game – could have a physical effect on their human lovers, and beyond, he warned.
Human sexuality has certain “physical limits” he said, particularly in the male of the species. Robots, on the other hand, were potentially tireless. This could have a knock-on effect for a robot’s human partner, and indeed the partner’s partner. “If the machine over-exerts the human, it reduces the possibility of human sex,” Bendel warned.
Beyond that, Bendel said, what about the effect on those who are supplanted by dedicated machines, or those who are unable to afford such gadgets.
Ethicists and developers could go some way to answering these questions, he said, though ultimately the whole of society had to make a call. AI and robotics are both advancing at a rapid clip, the conference was told, and a number of speakers suggested it should not be left to the traditional porn industry to make these decisions for us.
Even the most dedicated researcher will need a break from grappling with them from time to time. Indeed, Bendel revealed that his most recent project was a ladybird-friendly vacuum cleaner. The device will clean your floors, but if it detects ladybirds and other little critters, it will stop and shoo them away to safety. However, he added, the team had included a kill button for arachnophobes. ®
You could soon have ultra-realistic sex with your favourite celebrity crush using virtual reality headsets, a technology expert said.
New equipment coming on to the market in the gaming industry could be utilised for the most realistic porn ever.
Prof Lynne Hall, from the University of Sunderland’s computing, engineering and technology department, said virtual reality headsets are becoming cheaper and more sophisticated.
She said: “If you want to be Kate Winslet standing in front of Leonardo DiCaprio, that can happen.
“The porn sector will do this if there’s a lot of money in it and there will be a lot of money in it.”
Prof Hall added: “Leisure sex is increasingly socially acceptable and pornography is very widely accessed.
“We live very small lives dominated by smartphones. This fits very well into that lifestyle.”
Prof Hall was speaking at the Love and Sex with Robots second international congress at Goldsmiths, University of London, as she presented a research paper called ‘sex with robots for love-free encounters’.
The paper explores the “technological advances for pornography and their relevance for such fantasy sex robots… through the integration of virtual reality, tele-dildonics, soft and wearable robots”.
It says robotics could “support love-free sexual pleasure… across a range of domains”.
But while many people find the idea of sex with a mechanical object abhorrent, academics are keen to find out who is most willing to embrace (literally) this new technology.
Speaking at the Love and Sex with Robots conference at Goldsmiths, University of London, Jessica M. Szczuka from the University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany took on the preconceptions of lonely men shacking up with cyber-lovers.
“I wanted to see what kind of characteristics influence the use of sex robots,” she told an audience at the conference.
“We react towards computers and machines as we do with human beings. This involves showing empathy and keeping an interpersonal distance with robots.”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Szczuka’s research found that “anthropomorphic tendency” (ascribe human attributes to) was a positive predictor of intention to buy a sex robot and “negative attitude toward robots” was a negative predictor of intention to buy a sex robot.
Lovers separated by distance can see and talk to each other using the internet – but what about sharing a smooch?
The Kissenger is a gadget that’s been knocking around university research labs for the last few years and aims to let couple kiss each other through the internet.
It’s a brightly-coloured smartphone holster with an inviting plastic pad attached to the bottom. You lock lips with the pad and it transmits the sensation through to an identical holster and an identical pad that’s nestling your partner’s phone wherever that may be.
“Kissing is the most direct and universal expression of intimacy and affection,” explained Emma Yann Zhang, who worked on the prototype.
“It’s a way for us to bond and maintain intimacy in our relationships,” she told an audience at the Love and Sex with Robots congress as Goldsmiths, University of London.
“Also, it’s stress reducing; when we engage in this kind of intimate physical touch, we have a lower level of blood pressure.”
The Kissenger works with pressure sensors and actuators that record and transmit the your kiss to the receiving device, which recreates it for the person on the other end through an app that also features videocalling.
The creators admit that there’s still a way to go when it comes to accurately creating a long-distance makeout session. For starters, the pad isn’t mouth-shaped (although the actuators are lined like lips) and there’s no simulation for a tongue.
But the creators insist that it’s already helping to get people accustomed to machine-based touching. And, moreover, that it’s not being used in an overtly sexual way.
“Parents can also use Kissenger to give their children a kiss on the cheek when they are away at work,” say its creators.
Zhang explained that the next stage of the Kissenger is to build scent into the prototype. So you can get the authentic smell of the person you want to kiss.
You may think that what goes on between you and your sex robot in the privacy of your own home is nobody’s business but your own.
But experts have warned that – like fitness trackers and smart TVs – many of these futuristic sex toys will record and store personal data about how people use and store them. Unlike the popular and traditional looking PlugLust dildos, these sex toys will be containing sensitive usage data.
Unless questions are asked about how and why this data is being used, things could go badly wrong, according to Dr Kate Devlin, a senior lecturer in the Department of Computing at Goldsmiths, University of London.
“Right now my big concern is about data,” explained Dr Kate Devlin, during a keynote session at the Second International Congress on Love and Sex with Robots in London this week.
“We tick the box of the terms and conditions without checking them.”
Dr. Devlin cited the case of Standard Innovation, a US-based tech company that makes internet-connected sex toys under the We-Vibe branding, which is currently being sued.
The company is being accused of recording incredibly personal data – including things like vaginal temperature and preferred intensity setting – without the user’s consent.
The woman’s lawyer, Eve-Lynn Rapp, said: “This is one of the more incredible invasions of privacy we’ve ever dealt with.”
“We do collect certain limited data to help us improve our products and for diagnostic purposes,” Standard Innovation said in a statement.
“As a matter of practice, we use this data in an aggregate, non-identifiable form.”
Dr Devlin said that, in some cases, collecting personal data can be useful.
“For example, if it is fed back into the product to make it better,” she says, highlighting a thermometer gadget called Daysy that offers menstrual cycle tracking.
User feedback has also been proven to improve the product’s accuracy.
“But do we want people to know when we have sex and how we have sex?” she asked.
The argument is that if data collection is not monitored it could very easily turn into a slippery slope of personal data collection which is then open to hackers.
Despite raising concerns about both the data collection and the objectification of women that are by-products of sex robots, Dr Devlin argues that they are a positive development.
“There are a lot of heath benefits. You can be attached to something that’s not human and we’re already providing a lot of health and therapeutic technology to help older people in care homes. Why can we not provide sex tech as well?”
“The other thing that concerns me is the sexism. Women are massively underrepresented in the technology world and we see that reflected in the products.”
Back in 2007, artificial intelligence researcher David Levy from the University of Maastricht told LiveScience that people could be marrying robots – and consummating their vows – by 2050.
Although it might not appeal at first, he said, “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.”
In his PhD thesis, “Intimate Relationships with Artificial Partners”, Levy stated that the more human-like robots become in terms of personality, function and appearance, the more likely they are to form romantic partners for real people.
“It may sound a little weird, but it isn’t,” he said.
The Love and Sex with Robots congress is running at Goldsmiths, University of London from December 19-20.
Long-distance relationships can be difficult and, while apps like FaceTime, Snapchat and Skype mean lovers can see and talk to each other – what about real physical intimacy? Enter: the Kissenger.
A gadget that enables couples to kiss each other through the internet, the Kissenger – derived from the words kiss and messenger – has been the subject of university lab tests for the last couple of years.
So how does it work?
Essentially, it’s a brightly-coloured holster that attaches to your smartphone with an inviting plastic pad attached at the bottom.
When you lock lips with it, the pad senses pressure points and transmits the sensation through to an identical holster on your partner’s phone, wherever they may be.
“Kissing is the most direct and universal expression of intimacy and affection,” Emma Yann Zhang, who worked on the prototype, told an audience at the Love and Sex with Robots congress at Goldsmiths, University of London.
“It’s a way for us to bond and maintain intimacy in our relationships.”
The creators of the device say it has also helped users get on-board with machine-based touching and while it is aimed at couples, it can be used outside of romantic relationships. “Parents can also use Kissenger to give their children a kiss on the cheek when they are away at work,” its creators said.
While they admit that a lot more work is needed to create a more lifelike make out experience the next stages of development are already underway.
Subsequently, the team are now looking to build scent into the Kissenger, so the user can get the authentic smell of the person that they want to kiss.