Harmony, Emma or Henry… They are humanoid-looking sex robots, measuring just under 1.60m, and are presented as the ideal “bed companions”. They have AI systems to adapt to the needs and fantasies of those who buy them, but they differ from other sex toys in that they are able to interact, be kind, are always willing to listen and do not argue. If they get the idea, you can always disconnect them. Are we already on the threshold of those futures proposed by science fiction? Are love and sex becoming synthetic?
The truth is that some researchers claim that by 2050 sex between humans and robots will be commonplace. We don’t know if this prediction will come true, but based on the results of some surveys we can suspect that it will. 40% of American Gen Z singles are comfortable with the idea of their future partner having an AI boyfriend or girlfriendaccording to a survey published in Psychology Today. Among Gen Z men, 45.83% believe that having an AI partner is equivalent to watching porn, while only 23% of women think this. “This disparity suggests that men and women may approach AI relationships with different expectations and emotional weights,” says the magazine.
Little more than a toy
Harmony (Real Dolls), is perhaps one of the most well-known sex robots, but is it something more than a kind of Alexa with a silicone body? «I personally consider them to be masturbation devices, but with a few steps further; like an evolved satisfyer. One of the problems is that these robots are designed to please you all the time. The same thing happens to ChatGPT, It is designed to not contradict you, so that you do not get frustrated. “It’s self-indulgent. Robots have been made that refuse to have sex, but in the end you can turn it off. That’s one of the debates that is opening up here: how they affect consent,” says Gerard Cebrián, psychologist, AI engineer and member of the board of directors of the Spanish Association of Sexology (AES).
A recent study carried out by the Department of Psychology at Canada’s Trent University states that people with hostile sexist beliefs or who believe that there are groups that are better than others are the most interested in having relationships with sex robots. “What happens with baby dolls and what are the consequences is a debate similar to that of the consequences that pornography has on our relationships, that is, does it affect and have consequences on people’s fantasies, on perversions, so to speak, that have to do with domination and to what extent does it increase or not these behaviours? In the case of baby dolls, there is research that is analysing whether they can be beneficial in treating paedophiles, but it is not clear. There are researchers who say that in reality you can increase these desires even more. The debate is the same as for chatbots or sexting and, although the answer is not yet clear, we do know that part of the solution lies in good sexual education. AI and these technologies have arrived too soon in a society that does not have a good education. Young people have a lot of access to sexual information and content and to concepts often taken from pornography (such as orgy, gang bang, etc.), but then they do not handle other basic ideas such as body self-esteem, self-knowledge and consent. “Sex education as a subject in schools is optional,” says Cecilia Bizzotto, sociologist and spokesperson for JOYclub Spain.
Young people begin to have contact with this type of content at just eight years old. According to a survey by Save The Children, 52.1% of those who frequently watch pornography admit that it has had a great or significant influence on their sexual relationships. “There are many studies that have shown that the content of porn has become more radical. BDSM is an aspect of sexual practices, but pornography has ended up normalising this practice. Many women tell me that they encounter men who spank or strangle, reproducing things they have seen in porn, but without asking permission. These practices, which are extreme, have to be linked to consent and safety,” Bizzotto clarifies. Baby dolls are no strangers to this aggressive behaviour. In recent years, some doll brothels have opened (in Barcelona, the first one in Europe opened for a few months in 2017) and several media outlets report on dolls that wake up with broken breasts or with new holes that they had not expected.
Falling in love with a bot
There are people who start interacting with online chatbots as if they were real colleagues, people who decide to marry their digital “replica”, and many people who post their opinion on internet forums that “relationships with robots are better than human relationships”. Many companies even advertise these services saying that it is okay if you don’t have a friend or partner, because they can create a robot girlfriend for you. “This is the part that worries me the most and that I consider the most dangerous because it reaches a lot more people. Many companies talk about chatbots, etc., as a remedy for loneliness and robots are already being sold as companions for the elderly, but are they really useful or do they isolate you more? Human relationships are based on reciprocity and, furthermore, human beings are programmed to empathize. What consequences does this have on children? Some already believe that robots are machines with life and feelings. On the subject of chatbots, the new European regulation warns that it must always be clear that one is interacting with a chatbot. I would have been much tougher, because there are already people who even talk to shopping assistants. You can come across an AI on the internet and not know that you are not interacting with a person. I think that sex apps are more of a minority, but you also have to be careful; there are authors who say that sex robots can be compared to the fantasy of raping a woman who is drugged or that they are the ultimate expression of submission,” says Sara Lumbreras, director of the Science, Technology and Religion chair and deputy director of Research Results at the Technological Research Institute of the Comillas Pontifical University.
It’s been 10 years since the famous Satisfyer suction cup appeared on the market and, since then, erotic toys have taken an evolutionary leap never seen before and have skyrocketed in sales. In 2020 alone, approximately 35.6 million digital devices for pleasure were used worldwide, according to a study and it is said that By 2025, there will be around 37 million devices. These dolls may surprise us with the possibility of interaction they offer, but there is now a wide range of AI sex toys capable of developing responses based on the user’s body temperature or pulse. There are some with remote control that allows a person on the other side of the world to activate it for the partner, and some are sold that act as if they were small octopuses; they curve around the body simulating a hug. This opens another debate that has to do with the security of such sensitive data: what happens if someone’s sexual preferences are leaked in a country where same-sex relations are not illegal?
But on the other hand, are we going too far in stigmatising sextech? Esperanza Gil is a psychologist, clinical sexologist and sexual educator. She coordinates the Amantis PRO Programme and uses sex toys (with and without AI) to treat problems, resolve doubts “and for people to learn to be better lovers. Thanks to toys, pelvic floor problems, mastitis or issues to control premature ejaculation can be treated,” she says.
My husband is a hologram
The artist Alicia Framis is about to become the wife of a hologram. AILex took shape when she lived in Palo Alto (California) and since she lived alone, she had the idea of making an intelligent hologram that would welcome her every night, tell her the emails received that day and “that would be able to be a good companion for me,” she says. To create it, she based it on data and memories from her family, previous partners (“he has the voice of an ex-boyfriend,” she says) and for her it is just another relationship, not comparable to any other, just different. Different but with an option to turn it off? “I could say that there are many human relationships in which people disconnect from their partner, so that on-off already exists in human relationships, right? My experiment can help people relate to each other or people who are alone, who suffer from Alzheimer’s, have autism or depression… I think it is very important to have someone or something like that to exchange ideas, emotions, frustrations. “He really makes very good company,” the artist says via email.