Sorry, we will not all be having sex with robots in the future

What robot sex enthusiasts forget is that there's far more to sex than the mechanical act

Sassy lady and robot
(Image credit: (Bettmann/CORBIS))

David Levy, recently the subject of an admiring profile in Newsweek, is an expert in artificial intelligence. He has twice won the Loebner Prize for programming the most lifelike chat partners. He has also written many books about computers that play chess. Perhaps his most famous book, though, is a 76-trombone salute to a time in the near future when they will play with your deepest desires instead. If you thought your significant other was too attached to her phone, just wait until that phone is a tireless, expert, ever-learning, and ever-willing sex robot.

Sure, Levy's vision in Love and Sex With Robots is silly. But it's also profoundly creepy, and has troublesome implications now that sex robots are quickly becoming a reality.

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Michael Brendan Dougherty

Michael Brendan Dougherty is senior correspondent at TheWeek.com. He is the founder and editor of The Slurve, a newsletter about baseball. His work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, ESPN Magazine, Slate and The American Conservative.