Sex.co.nz

David Levy thinks it’s possible to fall in love with – and have sex with – robots.

Although robot love has been a theme in science fiction for decades, no scientists have ever seriously tackled the idea. After all, it took until 1997 to develop a computer program intelligent enough to beat the world’s best at chess. It’s taking even longer to develop a robot that can converse intelligently with another human being.

But a robot that can express emotions? A robot that can realistically simulate real sex?

Given that nothing revolutionary has emerged since RealDolls cornered the market on realism, it would seem that David Levy is reaching for the stars.

But he disagrees:

“I'll be surprised if it's more than another three years or so before we see more advanced sex dolls with more electronics and electromechanics.”

He points to companies like Japan’s HoneyDoll, which creates realistic silicone dolls which make a sound when their breasts are stroked. Customers can even change the sound their doll makes, thanks to a nifty SD card.

But the dolls currently retail for over AU$9000, which puts them out of range of the normal consumer.

Undaunted, Levy still believes that the day will come when “love with robots will be as normal as love with other humans,” and he doesn’t think we have long to wait. The middle of the century, at the most.

Sex with robots is certainly possible. After all, isn’t that what sex machines are for? But to go a step further and fall in love with a sex doll/sex machine is something else entirely.

In his book, Love and Sex with Robots (2007), Levy argues that we’re used to projecting feelings on to inanimate objects. Look at Furbys and Tamagotchis, after all.

Owners of RealDolls would agree. In many ways, sex with a RealDoll is like sex with the perfect human female. She never talks back, never says no, never makes you pay for dinner, and has a gorgeous body ready for sexual play 24-7.

Imagine taking a RealDoll and adding interactivity – voice, movement, responsiveness, a database of sex moves – and you have the ultimate artificial woman.

So will there come a day when robots are the ultimate guilt-free, disease-free, hedonistic sexual partner? That’s where Levy strays into optimistic speculation.

Whether or not customers would be willing to pay the thousands of dollars this “ultimate woman” would cost is questionable.

Levy makes a lot of assumptions, including a belief that women would prefer a male doll with a vibrating penis to a Rabbit.

“The market must be vast, if you think of the number of vibrators that sell to women. I'm sure a male sex doll with a vibrating penis will sell better than sex dolls today.”

Just ask RealDoll whether there’s a great demand among women for male sex dolls. The only customers who seem to want to have sex with male dolls are … other men.

Still, Levy has one thing right: mechanical sexual aids will continue to develop as single men and women and couples seek to push the boundaries of their sexual experiences. After all, it wasn’t long ago that oral sex was considered deviant. Soon, maybe all of us will have a sexbot stuffed in our closet. Until then, let’s just stick with sex toys, shall we?