Love and Sex with Robots
2007 book by David Levy
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Love and Sex with Robots is a 2007 non-fiction book by David Levy about the future development of sex robots and intimate human–robot relationships.[1][2] Levy argues that advances in robotics and artificial intelligence will eventually make sexual relationships, love, and even marriage between humans and robots socially normal.[3] He claims that such practices will be routine by 2050.[3]
| |
| Author | David Levy |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Subject | Robotics, artificial intelligence, human–robot interaction |
| Publisher | HarperCollins |
Publication date | 2007 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 352 |
| ISBN | 0061359750 |
Publication
Summary
Levy argues that human beings already form emotional attachments to non-human companions and technological objects, and that increasingly sophisticated robots could become plausible partners for companionship, romance, and sex.[6] The book draws on examples from cultural history, psychology, and developments in robotics to argue that intimate human–robot relationships are a foreseeable social development rather than a merely speculative fantasy.[7]
Reception
The book received notice in major media outlets upon publication. The Washington Post discussed it as a provocative intervention into debates about artificial intimacy,[1] while NBC News summarized Levy's argument that sex and marriage with robots could become commonplace.[2] In the Los Angeles Times, Seth Lloyd described the book as an example of ambitious futurist speculation about the normalization of human–robot intimacy.[3]
Criticism
Kathleen Richardson of the Campaign Against Sex Robots wrote a position paper arguing "that Levy's proposal shows a number of problems, firstly his understanding of what prostitution is and secondly, by drawing on prostitution as the model for human-robot sexual relations, Levy shows that the sellers of sex are seen by the buyers of sex as things and not recognised as human subjects." She went on to argue that "this legitimates a dangerous mode of existence where humans can move about in relations with other humans but not recognise them as human subjects in their own right."[8]
Later scholarship treated such criticism as part of a broader ethical debate over whether sex robots might reinforce objectification and asymmetrical models of intimacy.[9]
Legacy
The book has frequently been cited in later academic literature on sex robots and intimate human–robot relationships. A 2016 scholarly overview stated that the publication of Love and Sex with Robots in late 2007 "heralded a new era" in the field by helping shift the subject from science fiction into academic discussion.[10]
A 2020 scoping review in the Journal of Medical Internet Research likewise identified Levy's book and its predictions as an important early reference point in the subsequent academic debate about the ethics, design, uses, and effects of sex dolls and sex robots.[11]
The book's title was later used for the Love and Sex with Robots conference series and its proceedings.[12]