The reason? In about five years, instead of having online sex at your computer, you'll be having real sex with your computer.

 

Sound like a shaky plot from a bad porno? Well, according to Dr. David Levy, a London England-based expert in Artificial Intelligence, it's not science fiction. It's science fact and it's inevitable.

Levy's new book, Love and Sex with Robots: The Evolution of Human-Robot Relationships, outlines a future where banging a "sexbot" will be as commonplace as checking your e-mail. Moreover, Levy's book suggests that one day, marriage to robots will be a hotly discussed social issue. "Love with robots will be as normal as love with other humans," he controversially writes.

Click by Lavalife caught up with Levy via email (natch) to discuss.

Lavalife: You write about the amazing rate of progress in Artificial Intelligence (AI). Can you outline this progress for our readers so we can see just how 'intelligent' artificial intelligence is?

David Levy: Computers will become very much faster and they will have much bigger memories. This massive increase in computing power will enable AI researchers to think of new ways to solve problems that cannot be solved at the present time, for example to create a high level of conversation from a computer or a robot, and to simulate human emotions, personality and consciousness.

LL: What is artificial consciousness and how does it apply to your theories?

DL: It is a simulation in a computer or a robot of conscious behavior. If a robot behaves as though it has consciousness, and is convincing in this behavior, then people will accept it as having consciousness. That will make the robot more appealing as a friend or lover.

LL: Robots can already interact with us on a practical as well as personal basis. Can you tell us how this will 'evolve' in the future?

DL: Robot behaviors will become more and more humanlike, partly as a result of new techniques in AI. At the same time robot learning (i.e. computer learning) will be developed to a very sophisticated level, and so robots will evolve.

LL: I've heard of people forming emotional attachments to their Roomba robot vacuum cleaners and know women who have named their vibrators. What you're proposing seems to go so much further, but I can't help but wonder if the "love" you're talking about is really just an extension of the same thing.

DL: I think it will be more, because robots will have a humanlike appearance and they will have humanlike personalities and emotions. Vibrators and Roombas do not exhibit emotion or personality.

LL: Will robots have emotions or simply exhibit emotions?

DL: They will have artificial emotions but these will eventually be developed so well that they are very convincing. At that point it will not matter that the emotions are artificial. What will matter is what the human user experiences.

LL: Will we be able to tell the difference between humans and robots?

DL: I believe it will always be possible to tell the difference but as the differences become very small, it may not matter. Meeting a robot will become like meeting someone from another country or culture -- there will be some discernable differences but also many similarities.

LL: Could my robot lover cheat on me with another human or robot?

DL: Yes, if it is programmed to do so.