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Humans could soon be having sexual relationships with robots, a top academic has claimed.
Dr Helen Driscoll said advances in technology mean the way in which humans interact with robots is set to change drastically in the coming years.
Dr Driscoll, a leading authority on the psychology of sex and relationships, said 'sex tech' was already advancing at a fast pace and by 2070, physical relationships will seem primitive.
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She said: "Most people successfully integrate other forms of virtual reality into their lives, but virtual sex - not to mention love - will be seen by some as infidelity, and this will present real challenges to some relationships."In the world of the future, we could well see human relationships increasingly conducted entirely online.
Would you feel cheated on if your partner had sex with a robot?
(Score: 2) by Gravis on Tuesday August 04 2015, @10:58PM
Would you feel cheated on if your partner had sex with a robot?
since a sex robot can't feel emotions or take any actions based on said lacking emotions, it is not a threat to a human relationship. any feelings of being "cheated on" would be misplaced entirely. you don't love the robot and the robot doesn't love you. will illogical idiots be up in arms about it? of course! i'm sure there is a breed of idiot out there right now that think masturbation is cheating. needless to say, these people are best off not procreating at all.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by wonkey_monkey on Wednesday August 05 2015, @07:23AM
since a sex robot can't feel emotions or take any actions based on said lacking emotions, it is not a threat to a human relationship.
Of course it is, just as an obsession with gambling or alcohol can be a threat to a relationship despite not involving another human being.
you don't love the robot and the robot doesn't love you
The same is (largely) true of prostitution, yet for some reason partners get upset when you use those, too.
i'm sure there is a breed of idiot out there right now that think masturbation is cheating.
Who are you to say it isn't so, for those people?
There's no fundamental logic to morality.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk
(Score: 3, Touché) by Immerman on Wednesday August 05 2015, @08:47AM
>the robot doesn't love you
Absolutely true. At least unless/until we develop sentient AIs capable of emotion. But one would hope we wouldn't subject such a being to a life as a sex-slave, though I could certainly imagine at least some them appreciating having such a compatible chassis available for interacting with humans.
>you don't love the robot
... that is entirely supposition. Humans have an astounding ability to form profound emotional attachments to all manner of things. Animals, plants, buildings, cars, furniture, etc. Maybe not quite what we normally think of as romantic love, but then I suspect that could be said of a great number of titularly "romantic" relationships as well.
And of course as others have pointed out, emotional attachment is quite often completely beside the point anyway, otherwise nobody would consider purely physical hookups to be cheating.