Op-Ed: What virtual reality and artificial intelligence will mean for sex, love and intimacy
Loud voices from the religious right and the anti-porn left are already being raised against sex robots. They haven’t yet awakened to the more extensive possibilities when virtual reality and AI go to town on users’ erotic desires. But when they do, I have little doubt they’ll be outraged.
What’s more, there may be a measure of disapproval on the part of the public more generally — the predictable “uncanny valley” queasiness heightened by our typical censoriousness about sex. And concerns about whether treating objects like humans might lead to treating some humans like objects.
On balance, though, I side with the machines and against the puritans. I think artificial intimacy could deliver a more relaxed, inclusive, and humane sexuality, but only if societies have enough maturity to give it a chance.
Rob Brooks is the Scientia professor of evolution at University of New South Wales,Sydney and the author of “Artificial Intimacy: Virtual Friends, Digital Lovers, and Algorithmic Matchmakers.”
See the full story here: https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2021-11-29/artificial-intimacy-sex-technology
