That news story had two immediate reactions from me. The first was that it's about damn time that we had sexbots. Of course, this story isn't about sexbots: it's about lovebots, something capable of creating a meaningful relationship with its owner. And that's even better. That's something many humans, I'd venture, can't even enjoy with other humans, let alone something with a harddrive. The second reaction was that forty years is much too long. If I expect my robotic body to be ready to receive my brain before my fleshy body rots all around me, technology should advance a lot faster in that forty years. I'll be in my sixties by then, which means I'll either be happily married or have probably spent my life in miserable bachelorhood.
The story does say that we'll have sexbots in five years, but to be frank, judging by the kind of 
thing we're looking at in our robotic progress when we try to give them realistic expressions, it's not particularly the kind of thing I'd want to get cozy with in front of the fireplace over a nice bottle of the red, red vino.
thing we're looking at in our robotic progress when we try to give them realistic expressions, it's not particularly the kind of thing I'd want to get cozy with in front of the fireplace over a nice bottle of the red, red vino. I'm not saying that I'm holding out my hope for the robotic lover as my only means of ever touching something female-shaped (although sometimes that seems to be a possibility!). No, my friends, it's just that a robot is something that, I believe, is better suited to the disposition of a human than another human is. A human has things like needs and feelings. A human is irrational and asks things that have no good answer, like, 'Does this make me look fat?' The worst: you have to settle with humans. Although I still hope there is such a thing as a perfect match, the One True Love, the cynic in me doubts it and whispers that one day I'll have to choose someone that I know isn't exactly right, and I'll have to grin and bear the things that she does that I don't like, and I'll have to endure her reactions to the things I love that she doesn't. And that, my friends, is something my robotic lover and I will never have to suffer. I could sit on the balcony with my computer, writing away, and she would massage my shoulders or just sit with me, one arm wrapped around my leg like a babe in a fantasy painting, never complaining or thinking of herself.
Damnit, it makes me want to get into computer engineering just to help make it a reality faster.
The article raises an interesting question: would we want our robotic lovers to have the ability to reject us? If not, boredom could result. But if we did, we would have to suddenly figure out what L154 is suddenly not talking to us, when it seemed like things were going so well. I really don't know what would be best...
ReplyDeleteIf you /really/ wanted to give her the opporunity to reject you, which I can't imagine why you would, you should be sure to include a reset switch. ^___^
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