Love and Sex with Robots: The Evolution of Human-Robot Relationships,   ISBN:9780061359804

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Given the reported emotional attachments that some soldiers have with the machines that sometimes save their lives, or AIBO owners to their robot dogs, it is easy to accept a book that discusses the possibility of actual love affairs or even sex with humanoid-like machines. From a purely sexual standpoint, this would be a natural evolution, as the title of this book suggests, given the wide use of sexual devices throughout history. But to fall in love with a robot would require that this type of machine be responsive to the needs and personal idiosyncrasies of its human counterpart, as well as be convincing in its need for companionship and intimacy. Such a machine would require a technology that is way beyond current capabilities, but given the rapidity of technological advance at the present time, especially in artificial intelligence, it is very plausible to assume that it will be available in a very short time.

This of course is not the first book to elaborate on the possibility of love affairs or sex with robots. Science fiction has used this in its story lines for many decades now. And Hollywood has brought these stories to life on the big screen, along with others that give alternative, and very terrifying portrayals of human-machine interactions. The virtue of this book is not only its careful attention to history, but also its optimistic tone. The author is in no way intimidated by the possibility of love or sexual affairs with machines, and even embraces it as a desirable development. And of course it is, for it allows humans even more possibilities for exploration and future paths for the curious.

The book is also valuable solely for the history that it contains, and for the psychological insight on the nature of human love and sexual attraction. Its only minus is that the author does not give any hints on what it might take technologically to build machines that could not only respond to human emotions but also experience such emotions themselves. The author should have given a summary of the present status of machine intelligence and just what needs to be perfected or changed to bring about these kinds of machines.

The author makes it a point to inform the reader that he does not view such developments as far-fetched, and if one studies the growth of intelligent technology in the past two decades, ample support for his thesis can be readily obtained. Even more important is his notion that human sexual experiences or love affairs will be actually enhanced by machines. Or, even more interesting, is that the machines themselves will find such relationships with humans even more satisfying than those among themselves. Such a human/machine symbiosis seems not only possible but also desirable.

Very desirable.

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David Levy's book is divided into two and unequal parts, both in length and in interest. Most readers, I would imagine, if told that a book was divided into a longer section about future emotional relations between humans and robots and a shorter section on sex with robots would guess that the more interesting would be the latter. For me, at least, the opposite was the case. I was barely able to stay awake while reading the sex chapters, while I found the chapters dealing with potential emotional connections with robots to be fascinating. Levy makes, I believe, a convincing case that robots will play an increasingly important and essential role in human social life. If nothing else, the comparison between pets and robots is telling. There is no question that millions of humans treat pet animals as friends and have strong emotional connections with them. That we will feel similar ties to robots when the A.I. has developed to an extent to make genuine interaction possible seems to me to be impossible to debate. Or, rather, some may debate it, but many others will nonetheless employ robots as companions or more.

Much of the book is dedicated to detailing the reasons why humans and robots will before the end of the 21st century - indeed, Levy believes it will be around the midpoint of the century - humans will fall in love with and have sex with robots. He addresses issues such as the grounds for attachment, the technological hurdles that remain to be overcome, and the status of work on artificial intelligence. The sex portion of the book is a rather dull catalog of the use of inanimate objects to achieve sexual climax. After all these chapters I can't believe that many would have many doubts THAT these things will happen, quite apart from any issues of whether they SHOULD happen.

Curiously and sadly, Levy ducks all the tough issues and questions. In a way, he almost acts as an apologist for human on robot love. But he persistently and doggedly refused to deal with the many troubling moral issues that attach to his subject. This makes what could have been very good book a marginally useful one.

Let me give some examples of the issues Levy simply ignores. In a very few years we will be able to make amazingly complex robots with whom humans can fall in love and even have relationships with. They will be objects of sexual desire. But what of someone who wants a robot made in the image of a 12-year-old girl? Or a 9-year-old boy? Is this something that we as a society will in any way want to permit or tolerate? Will we want to prohibit the manufacture of robots that look like and behave like young children? What kinds of limits will we wish to place on the treatment of robots? What if someone wants to beat and batter their robot? What if part of their sexual desire involves the willful destruction of one? Will we make such things illegal? If so, what will be the punishment? Will it be treated as a misdemeanor or a felony? Will it be treated primarily as an offense towards the robot or as a kind of behavior that could provide a transition to abuse of humans? Levy seems to assume that relations between humans and robots will be unproblematic. It seems to me that they will be enormously problematic and that our interaction with robots - especially if the A.I. gets to the point where robots can be said to be self-aware or autonomous - will generate a host of new and major moral and legal issues. And I think it is a major flaw in any book purporting to deal with love and sex between humans and robots to ignore these tremendously important moral issues.

Levy also ignores other important issues, such as the social and cultural effects of humans effectively replacing relationships with humans with robots. If humans - male and female - turn to robots because of their physical attractiveness, their sexual prowess, and their pre-programmed uncritical acceptance of their human partners, then how will this affect human-human relationships? And what does it say about society that human-human relationships are so unsatisfying that robots could fill a major need. There is a deep sadness to Levy's subject that he as apologist simply ignores.

In short, I feel that this book was a missed opportunity. Levy introduces an important subject, but does not address many of the most obvious and pressing issues surrounding it. The book is very thought provoking because it deals with many societal and technological inevitabilities, but it also skirts a host of issues that will unquestionably arise.

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I read this book after reading about it on a blog www.lostandloster.blogspot.com .

At first I thought this was a joke but as I read more into it I could see this as our future and maybe it could be good. Think of the men who visit prostitutes or join gangs for companionship etc. So if robots could be used to fill a basic human need for people who have a hard time getting that from other people would that be so bad.

I have relatives with autism and Aspergers and there lives are made harder because of their inablility to form human contact. So this might be a good thing.

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Suggested (not recommended) to me by a brother. An interesting read with an interesting outlook. Reminds me of Sean Young as the exceptional replicant in Blade Runner.

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Defiance and Maggie are my two girlfriends. Defiance is a bronze statue and Maggie is a rag doll. They both have personalities and attitudes. They "live" with me, and, for the most part, I enjoy their company. You might think me crazy but I say I'm ahead of the times, an "early adapter." In his book "Love + Sex with Robots," David Levy posits that by mid-century: love and sex and marriage with humanoid robots will be popular. He sites a lot of personal and social benefits from this "advancement." He says the robot can be individually programed to be the perfect companion to mesh with any particular person's desires. And these characteristics can be adjusted and changed as needed. In addition, the robot can instruct the human on communication, emotional, and sexual skills. And, they never get tired--they're ready when you are. He sees this as inevitable, being driven by human needs and profit. (Oh, and yes, they will look and feel just like us.)

He makes a compelling case. Starting from the human biological need for attachment and the pleasure principle, and moving through the psychological propensities for projection and transference, conjoined with technological advancements and sparked by the free market -- we are headed towards -- love and sex with things without heart or soul. (Although you won't know that the case, so "real' they will be.)