First, the good news. Such as it is. Nerds, shy people, and folks who are just no fun at parties may soon have their prayers answered. Incels may be incels no more. No more fake phone numbers No more awkward conversations or rejections, no more lonely nights, no more getting one’s hopes up while swiping right. Internet porn may become a thing of the past.
AI-driven sex robots may be here sooner than you think.
On the other hand, if you will pardon the expression, an AI-powered sex robot may be more trouble than many people expect. For one, there is maintenance. The thing isn’t just going to lumber off to the shower after a tryst, so that will be your problem — something that is probably best left unexplored here. And it will, after all, be a product of technology. Nothing will kill the mood quite like waiting for your dream partner to reboot, or when it goes offline for a systems update. And this is not the ’90s Chevy you drove in college. If something breaks, you won’t be headed down to Autozone, Checker, or O’Reilly to pick up a replacement part. I imagine that there will be some long and uncomfortable phone calls with tech support in the future. You think you’re frustrated yelling “operator” at your bank’s phone menu now? Wait until your new boy/girlfriend/friend with benefits goes on the fritz. For that matter, ever lose the charger cord to your phone? How long do you want to wait while he/she/zhe charges up?
And if it breaks, what is it going to be like boxing it up and hauling it down to the UPS Store to return it? You’re going to go broke buying bubble wrap. And what about mailing the package? The postal clerk always asks what you are shipping and if it is hazardous. Now may be the time to start thinking of answers to that question.
Just don’t buy your new sex robot from Ikea. You probably already know how frustrating it is to try to put together one of their stupid coffee tables. Imagine your new friend’s components spread across your living room floor and all you have is a set of instructions in Swedish. Better put that $3.00 champagne back on ice for a few hours.
Then there is the fact that so many people are identifying as fill-in-the-blank sexuals these days. How many different types of robots will companies have to make? Or will there be options for upgrades, interchangeable parts, and expansion packs? That could get pricey in a hurry. Sort of adds a whole new sordid twist to Amazon Prime Day, doesn’t it?
But let’s go full-blown “Blade Runner.” What if your companion decides they just aren’t that into you and takes up with someone else? Maybe even another AI unit? How would that be for irony? Or “silicony,” as the case may be.
All of those potential annoyances aside, the real risk may not be to your wallet, reputation, or self-esteem. It may be to your humanity and soul.
Mo Gawdat, who is the former chief business officer at Google’s R&D division known as “X.” recently sat down for a conversation with Tom Bilyeu, who hosts a show called “Impact Theory” on YouTube. In this video, Gawdat discusses the inevitability of AI robot sex, or even AI sex through the use of virtual reality. Other outlets have accused Gawdat of advocating the advent of such products and encounters. To me, it sounds like a combination of a simple assessment and a warning. A warning of what can happen when profit-driven big tech taps into our desire to have every whim catered to. Judge for yourself.
One of the most disturbing comments in the video came when Bilyeu noted that a lonely elderly person could create images of his children or grandchildren coming to visit. Which is quite benign. But he commented that such an AI could be programmed “to be like a child.” And while Bilyeu was not suggesting that the AI would be used for prurient purposes, we know that someone would do just that. Or use it to create a “partner” that resembled a celebrity, an acquaintance, or anyone else who might not willingly acquiesce to sex. In which case it would reinforce deviant behavior.
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Beyond that, even if it is used only for the “right” reasons or assignations, it would still sap people of their humanity. No matter what a person’s romantic goals may have been in high school or young adulthood, the purpose of sex is for procreation and to establish and strengthen the bonds of intimacy and love between two people. It is an expression of love. AI sex takes the love and the intimacy out of the process and makes people dead-eyed, slack-jawed consumers. Nothing of value can be exchanged between a person and an AI, no matter how advanced it may be. Sooner or later, we will no longer feel the need to achieve, create or experience anything. We will cede our humanity to the Almighty Algorithm. Far from enhancing our lives, the ease that our wondrous technology will bring will make the business of being human all the more difficult. Maybe even impossible at some point. When being human becomes a burden, then we may become slaves. Slaves to big tech, slaves to AI, or, even worse, slaves to our own urges.
As Gawdat remarked, “There more we fall in that trap of ‘make my life easier, make my life easier, make my life easier,’ there will always be something in that life that is not easier.”