Love and Sex with Robots: The Evolution of Human-Robot Relationships

by David N.L. Levy

From a leading expert in artificial intelligence, an eye-opening but superbly argued book about how increasing innovation in robotic technology is enabling legitimate romantic and sexual relationships between humans and robots. Synthesizing breaking news in the field of robotics with the cultural history, technological development, art, literature, and psychology of artificial intelligence, "Love and Sex with Robots" is popular science at its diverting - and eye-opening - best. From Pygmalion falling for his chiseled Galatea to Dr. Frankenstein marveling in both awe and terror at his "modern Prometheus" to the man-meets-machine fiction of Ray Bradbury and Michael Crichton, readers have been enthralled by the possibilities of interaction between technological creations and themselves. Shocking yet wildly informative, "Love and Sex with Robots" builds on that fascination to show how entities we once deemed benign and unresponsive may very well turn out to be objects of real, human desire.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Technology, Robots, Futurism, Sexuality, Artificial Intelligence

352 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2007

Reviews

[Christopher · Rating 2 out of 5]

Should I create a "robot sex" shelf for this? Probably.

Seriously, the book was pretty dull, but I think I knew it was going to be. The history of sex toys part was quite interesting, which is really all that gets this book two stars. It could have made a four-star essay.

Be forewarned: reading this book in the library is hilarious. People will look at you like you are insane, so make sure to hold the cover out so people can see what you are reading. If you can get away with yelling things like "fuck yeah, I'd totally do that robot" and "wow, look at that robot's testicles" in your local library, I recommend that you do it. Although there really aren't any robot testicles pictured in the book, nobody will know that. Unless they pick it up off the desk when you leave, which almost surely somebody will. I didn't yell anything because I like spending time at the Central library, and do not want the librarians to think of me as "that guy with a robot fetish" instead of "that guy that is here a lot and needs a haircut."

[Michael Burnam-Fink · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is a decent summary of the state of erotic robotics circa 2007, but otherwise rather slapdash and under theorized. Levy's premise is that real soon now, we'll have robots, and once we have robots we'll have sex with them. It's difficult to oppose this statement because people are pervs who'll try fucking anything, but that doesn't necessarily mean that sex with robots will ever become mainstream. Levy draws on a wide array of scholarship, from the psychology of attachment, to the sociology of prostitution, to the history of vibrators, but each of these subjects is treated rather shallowly.

The interesting question and challenges about intimicay with AI are totally dropped. What about the Uncanny Valley effect and almost likelife robots? Why should we accept the validity of the Turing Test over Searle's Chinese Room argument? Is it moral to create beings to have sex with them?

At the end of the day, my biggest problem is with the narrowness of Levy's conception of both sex and robotics. For him, the robot is the android-full stop, and sex with them is a supplement to an ordinary relationship, or a crutch for those too socially awkward to keep a human mate. It's a very shallow, very Western, very boyish idea of what sex is all about, and does little to sell that idea that healthy adults will have sex with their lovely robots.

[Shozo Hirono · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book seemed to be written by a very smart, precocious, 11-year old boy with Asperger's. So imagine my surprise when I saw the author's photo in the back jacket flap.

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

A perfect example of how many people in the AI industry have little understanding of the mind-brain problem and how to solve it - or, in fact, have no understanding why this IS a problem for their industry. Levy takes a huge amount of dangerous logical leaps in this book, the worst being that if something appears to have consciousness, we should assume it does - and therefore if something appears to consent, we should assume it does too. While I disagree completely with the assertion that a robot exhibiting “intelligent” behaviours should be assumed to have metacognition, if we accept that but also appreciate that any robot will be programmed to consent even if it does have a type of consciousness, we have to accept that the possibility of real consent is not there, as we have control of that. Just as we create laws on the understanding that the less powerful person in an unequal power dynamic cannot really consent (eg statutory rape laws), we should also understand that any “person” (if you believe AIs to be so) created by another with the intent of being sexually used and programmed to say that they consent to such behaviours does not have the ability NOT to consent, meaning that consent is not possible in such a context. To my mind, it is insane to say that any AI will have true consciousness so what you have, in the best possible scenario, is something that looks indistinguishable from a human (usually a woman) that allows you to do anything to it with no social repercussions. Such behaviour has dangerous real-world effects. I’m also completely unconvinced that David Levy understands what good sex is.

[M0rningstar · Rating 2 out of 5]

Robots and androids have enthralled me ever since I was a little kid (C-3PO and R2-D2 were the only parts of Star Wars that I gave a toss about.) So imagine my surprise and delight when I happened upon this book.

The author does a good enough job of gathering relevant research findings (although his presentation is not always clear), but the conclusions he draws from them are laughably simplistic. For example, he asserts that robots will be readily accepted, even preferred, candidates for arranged marriages because they can be customized (in terms of physical and personality traits) to the liking of the parents and prospective spouse. This completely fails to take into account the reality that, in most arranged marriages, substantial consideration is given to a candidate's family background/connections and socio-economic status, neither of which customizable robots are likely to possess.

The book spends a lot of ink arguing for the acceptance of robots as our companions and, eventually, as our lovers, repeatedly citing supporting research featuring animals and computers. While this is an important point to make, it could have been presented far more succinctly, thus leaving room for more discussion of the potential effects of such acceptance. This far more important and interesting topic, alas, is largely confined to the short concluding chapter.

Most problematic is the book's lack of internal coherence. Longueurs expound on the many characteristics you can customize to your heart's content when ordering your robot from the store--everything from eye colour and muscular build to sociability and mood. After purchase, if you ever decide to, let's say, have multiple partners, you can even dial down the "jealously" setting to ensure smooth sailing. A few pages later, the author is enthusiastically recommending marriage with your robot and comparing the eventual acceptance of such marriages with the evolution of married women's rights and same-sex rights. He doesn't seem to understand that such comparisons are inane because marriage between a man and a woman (or a man and a man, or a woman and a woman) is between two persons. A robot whose very personality and memories one has absolute and constant control over (not to mention property rights) cannot be considered its own person. Conversely, if one were to confer personhood onto robots, then tweaking one's synthetic mate to be less jealous or more affectionate for one's own convenience/pleasure would be profoundly unethical. It's baffling that someone writing a whole book about love + sex with robots would not spot this nut-numbingly obvious contradiction. Needless to say, deeper issues like consent and competence are not even mentioned (except for a single-line footnote), let alone addressed.

The author also operates on a rather antiquated model of gender roles, a particularly unforgivable shortcoming when one is supposedly writing about futuristic love and sex. Perhaps because of this, there's scant discussion of same-sex relationships or alternative sexualities.

It's frustrating to see such a thought-provoking topic treated so thoughtlessly.

[Elise · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wrote the below (see quoted text) when I was halfway through the book. I have to say, my opinion of the book improved with the second half. Levy abandoned a lot of his writing foibles that annoyed me so, and his history of the sex toy industry was awesome. Three stars.

"I'm about halfway through this book and so far I agree with most of the mediocre reviews others have given it. The topic is fascinating, the facts in Levy's book are fascinating, his writing style is insufferable. I actually don't find him boring, far from it, rather I find his writing style annoyingly repetitive and simplistic.

Must we have a footnote every few pages re-iterating that when Levy uses the word "computers" he means the hardware and the software? Not only is that what readers are likely to assume anyway, but we're also not idiots. If you say it once, we get it!!! Another annoyance for me are the constant footnotes referencing some idea or concept to an idea or concept either a few pages back that you JUST READ or a few pages forward that you're about to read. First of all, if I just read it, I don't need a footnote reminding me of the concept. My memory is longer than a goldfish's thank you very much. Second of all, if your book is well written, then the concepts you're introducing will follow logically and build on each other, and there won't be any need to use footnotes to link ideas that follow consecutively.

The general concept Levy addresses - that in the future people will be falling in love with and marrying robots - is still very interesting. With some significant editing (Levy - I'm happy to oblige if a second edition of the book is issued) this book could be excellent."

[Dea]

I didn't get THAT far into the book, only about 60 pages or so. I dropped it because it was not what i thought it would be, and i thought it was boring. At first the idea of a book about the psychological, emotional, and cultural impacts of love/sex with robots would be interesting, but this book is more of "don't be afraid of the future because we already doing it." In my opinion this book was written to justify an emotional attachment to a non human being, but i already have no problem with what people do in their homes. Perhaps i should have read further but I would have liked to see the negative aspect of becoming attached to robots (and other inanimate objects) or perhaps a discussion into whether or not having sex with a robot constitutes rape. If a robot can feel (aka respond emotionally according to the programing as the author suggests) then would the sex act (or any act) be truly of their own choice. Like i said i am not afraid of people becoming emotional attached or having sex, i am more concerned with the status of the "inanimate object" in our society.

PS: for further discussion on robots and humans see; Animatrix, Ghost in the Shell, Chobits, (Blade Runner? to my shame i have not seen the movie but maybe ^.^)

[Priya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Saw the author in a Colbert Report interview (he was rather amusing but appeared to take himself a bit too seriously) and found this book at my local library. It's a quick read and I finished it over a weekend, in between bouts of being sick.

The book is entertaining though I feel automatically marginalised since a) the author seems to be focused upon men having female robots for company and b) he spends too much time justifying why robots are appropriate for loving and capable of providing love. Who wants to read about why humans love and what the purpose of love is? It's not like there's a universal definition that is agreed upon across cultures so why spend so much time explaining all this? If you reckon robots are likely to get you off, then go for them! Unlike Levy, I don't see why it has to be robots versus humans or robots equal humans. How about robots and humans, whatever works according to context?

If you like this, you might want to catch the film Lars and the Real Girl as well.

[Molly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very cool, very relevant.

This part made me scream.

“[…]the act of ‘religious prostitution’, as a form of pygmalionism.

This is an act of sacrifice, made to a deity, most often taking the form of a sacrifice by a woman of her virginity shortly before giving herself to her husband for the first time. The defloration process would sometimes be accomplished with a penis made of ivory, stone, wood, or even iron and sometimes a form of pygmalionism - intercourse with a statue of the god.”

[Adam Hyla · Rating 2 out of 5]

By 2029, robots will be moving about as with as much animal grace as you or I. By 2035, they’ll be conversing in ways that seem so natural it will be hard to tell them apart. And around that time, we’ll be getting them into bed — or they’ll be seducing us. The cyborgs are coming, and they’re bringing, writes David Levy, “great sex on tap for everyone, 24/7.”

We’re a nation as fearful of robots as Japan (where Toyota, by 2010, plans to roll out models that serve tea and look after the elderly) is fond. But the rush of new technologies pulls along sexual innovations in their wake. Cybersex has supplanted the telephone as a means of long-distance lovers to get their freak on. With a computer, a modem, and a haptic interface, the discipline of teledildonics produced the first transcontinental orgasm in 2005. And some things stay the same: Couple the long history of love machines (from the to the RealDoll) for boys and girls with our abiding fondness for the sex trade (et tu, Elliot Spitzer?). Throw in a dash of the anthropomorphism attendant to our gadgets that’s been around since a seaman called his boat a she.

The result: a kind of life, ready to please us. The iPod, incredibly plain-looking but infinitely accessorized, its files more than the sum of their gigabytes, will be pushed aside as the highest technological statement of self. “What’s on your MP3 player?” will someday become “Who’s in your ’bot posse?” Or harem.

We have a ways to go in making lifelike skin or plausible conversationalists. For the first one, trust that pornographers around the world are experimenting with ever more pliant silicone. For the second, Levy closes the gulf between human and man-made personality by extending to emotions the so-called Turing thesis: If a machine appears to us to be intelligent, we should assume that it is, in fact, intelligent.

If “a robot ‘cries ‘ for attention, then the robot is expressing its own form of emotion in the same way as a baby does when it cries for its mother,” he writes. “The robot that gives the , by its behavior, of having emotions should be regarded as emotions….”

What for? “If users believe that their robot loves them, and that they in turn love their robot, the robot is more likely to be seen as alive,” writes Levy. “And if a robot is deemed to be alive, it is more likely that its owner will develop increased feelings of love for the robot, thereby creating an emotional snowball” — a snowball on its way to an uncertain end. The emotional attachment of one man for his fembot will be a tribute to the machine’s makers, a kind of worship of the computer scientists and materials engineers and the corporation to whom they belong.

At the ultimate test of lovers robots will fail always: They will not be unpredictable in any way other than is dictated by their programming and disclosed upon their sale. Love entails vulnerability, risk, launching yourself into someone else’s sea. A cyborg lover is just another drydock.

Levy believes that robots’ programmed supportiveness and judgment-free companionship will help solve the worldwide shortage of wellbeing. That’s a wager I can admire from a distance. There’s another guess to make: that we’ll be tempted to prefer robots’ limpid and discrete display of emotions to our fellow beings’.

Technological innovation once heralded the end of work. Sexbots forecast the end of love.

[Steven H · Rating 5 out of 5]

A PREDICTION THAT THIS WILL BE ACHIEVED BY MID-2050s

David Levy is an internationally recognized expert on artificial intelligence and the president of the International Computer Games Association, and the co-founder of Intelligent Toys Ltd. In 1997 he led the team that won the Loebner Prize.

He wrote in the Introduction to this 2007 book, “The current state of the art in robotics and in other domains within artificial intelligence is not what this book is about; it is merely the starting point for my thesis. We already have android robots, whose appearance is designed to resemble humans… already we have computer software that excels in many intellectually demanding tasks and in most areas of creativity, and we have software that can exhibit humanlike emotions… When these new computer technologies have been developed in maturity, and when they have been combined with what will then be the latest advances in AI research, the intellectual capabilities and the emotional responses of robots will be nothing short of astonishing… The robots of the mid-twenty-first century will also possess humanlike or superhuman-like consciousness and emotions.” (Pg. 10)

He continues, “why, if a robot that we know to be emotionally intelligent, says, ‘I love you’ or ‘I want to make love to you,’ should we doubt it?... Even though we know that a robot has been DESIGNED to express whatever feelings or statements of love we witness from it, that is surely no justification for denying that those feelings exist, no matter what the robot is made of or what we might know about how it was designed and built… with the addition of artificial intelligence to the machine-slaves conceived in the twentieth century, we have now made them into something much more. Yes, they might still be programmed to do our bidding… [but] by building robots that have at least some appearance of humanlike features, we are rapidly moving toward n era when robots interact with us no only in a functional sense but also a personal sense.” (Pg.12)

He acknowledges, “I fully expect that in the shorter term many of the ideas and predictions expressed in this book will be met with a certain amount of doubt, or downright disbelief, and possibly hostility. To my mind, those who doubt the possibility of … robot life lack a breadth of vision similar to those who, in the 1960s, doubted the possibility of an artificial intelligence… I do not expect the acceptance of love and sex with robots to become universal overnight… it would not surprise me if a significant proportion of readers deride these ideas until my predictions have been proved correct… Given the dramatic and technological changes and advances that the world has witnessed during the past fifty years, any assumptions of unlikelihood or impossibility regarding our technological future are at the very least risky, and most probably unjustified.” (Pg. 20-21)

He continues, “what DOES seem to me to be entirely reasonable and extremely likely---nay, inevitable---is that many humans will expand their horizons of love and sex, learning, experimenting, and enjoying new forms of relationship that will be made possible… through the development of highly sophisticated humanoid robots… Love and sex with robots on a grand scale are inevitable. This book explains why.” (Pg. 22)

He observes, “The human propensity for loving our pets thus informs our understanding of the emotional attraction to computers, to robot pets, and to humanoid robots. For those people who value their relationship with their pets more highly than their relationships with other humans, it would not be surprising if a virtual pet or a robot were to be … supplanting humans as the most natural objects of human affection.” (Pg. 63)

He admits, “[computers] are not yet at the point where human-computer friendships can develop in a way that mirrors human-human friendships… until computer models of emotion and personality are sufficiently advanced to enable the creation of high-quality virtual minds on a par with those of humans… there will be many who will doubt the potential of robots to be our friends.” (Pg. 109)

He asks, “what is the explanation for the preference of interacting with a computer over interacting with people? The feeling of privacy and the sense of safety that it brings make people more comfortable when answering a computer and hence more willing to disclose information.” (Pg. 115)

He explains, “there is a humanlike robot endowed with all of the artificially intelligent characteristics that will be known to researchers by the middle of this century… Might you fall in love with this robot? Of course you might. Why shouldn’t you? … people can fall in love WITHOUT being able to see or hear the object of their love…” (Pg. 131) Later, he adds, “I submit that each ad every one of the main factors that psychologists have found to cause humans to fall in love with humans can almost equally apply to cause humans to fall in love with robots… Some humans might feel that a certain fragility is missing in their robot relationship… but that fragility … will be capable of simulation.” (Pg. 150)

He suggests, “Sex machines … are not yet big business, but when their sales reach a certain threshold, watch out! Investment in new product developments might suddenly become available on a massive scale, with an eye to increasing the already astounding profits that the adult-entertainment industry reaps each year.” (Pg. 271)

JHe clarifies, “Before you [think] … that I intend to suggest that sex between two people will become outmoded, may I state… that I do not believe for one moment that this will happen. What I AM convinced of is that robot sex will become the only sexual outlet for a FEW sectors of the population---the misfits, the very shy, the sexually inadequate and uneducable---and that for some other sectors of the population robot sex will vary between something to be indulged in occasionally… to an activity that supplements one’s regular sex life, perhaps when one’s partner is not feeling well…” (Pg. 290-291)

He concludes, “The robots of the middle of this century will not be exactly like us, but close… they will be designed to be almost indistinguishable from us to the vast majority of the human population. How will it affect us when we are no longer instinctively able to tell robot from human at a glance?” (Pg. 303) He continues, “Will it be unethical … to say to one’s regular human sex partner, ‘Not tonight, darling. I’m going to make it with the robot’?… Malebots and femalebots will inevitably become huge commercial successes. Initially, much of the enthusiasm… will be prompted by curiosity… the demands of the market will drive sexbot researchers to work overtime in the development of newer and better robot sex… their sexual appetites becoming voracious as the technologies improve…”(Pg. 309-310)

This book will appeal to those studying artificial intelligence and robotics.

[Matthew Antosh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sometime in the not so distant future, the movement for android civil rights and robosexual rights will be the most important movement of it's time. Love and Sex with Robots: the Evolution of Human-Robot relationships is not the manifesto for that movement.

Levy is a technologist, not a humanist or ethicist. His vision of sexuality is very mechanic, where attraction can be summed up with a mathematical equations and that the reason people will have sex with robots is because of what they produce (orgasms).

In a world where robots are virtually indistinguishable from other humans, how we fall in love and have sex with robots would be, generally, how we fall in love and have sex with regular people. But Levys vision is one where we go out and buy our robotic sexual partners, one where they would be able to scan our brains to ensure that we loved them, that would be perfectly designed for our specific sexual desires.

The problem is that humans are not looking for the perfect human being to be our partners. All humans are flawed and it's those flaws that make our partners special and loveable. There is a frightening aspect if you consider robots to be indistinguishable from humans, Levys vision in my opinion would be a form of sexual slavery. Levys manbots and fembots are little more then Thrillhammers with emotions.

The second half of the book, the history and future technology of sexual aids is very interesting, but in general Levys illogical leaps in the first section don't work and the book as a whole isn't worth it.

[mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Defiance and Maggie are my two girlfriends. Defiance is a bronze statue and Maggie is a rag doll. They both have personalities and attitudes. They "live" with me, and, for the most part, I enjoy their company. You might think me crazy but I say I’m ahead of the times, an "early adapter." In his book "Love + Sex with Robots," David Levy posits that by mid-century: love and sex and marriage with humanoid robots will be popular. He sites a lot of personal and social benefits from this "advancement." He says the robot can be individually programed to be the perfect companion to mesh with any particular person’s desires. And these characteristics can be adjusted and changed as needed. In addition, the robot can instruct the human on communication, emotional, and sexual skills. And, they never get tired--they’re ready when you are. He sees this as inevitable, being driven by human needs and profit. (Oh, and yes, they will look and feel just like us.)

He makes a compelling case. Starting from the human biological need for attachment and the pleasure principle, and moving through the psychological propensities for projection and transference, conjoined with technological advancements and sparked by the free market -- we are headed towards -- love and sex with things without heart or soul. (Although you won’t know that the case, so "real’ they will be.)

[Carrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to love this book. I tried to overlook its shortcomings and congratulate it for its successes. But ultimately, it just didn't do it for me. I got tired of the author's insistence, every page or so, that I will probably be having awesome robot sex with Terminator-quality androids by the time I'm 70 (that's when he predicts that they'll be widely available and affordable).

It's not the idea of robot sex that bugged me; I think he's probably right that in a few decades the technology may be advanced enough to mass-produce sex robots, and I think that once they're around, people will surely use them. What I didn't like was the writing style and the fact that the author is too enamored of his own ideas to explain them thoroughly. Every five seconds it was "See? Do you see now? Surely by now you think I'm right? If you don't yet, I'll ask you again when you turn the page."

It was fun to pick up some good trivia (do you know about the first recorded case of std transmission via a blow-up doll?) and I also liked the brief tour of historical sex artifacts. But the rest of it was mostly boring.

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

David Levy's book is a discussion of how and why we may be intimate with robots in the near future. The very possibility is worth reading about, and indeed Levy gives us much to read and think about, referencing much research done into human behaviour and relationships in general, and more specific research into our relationships with pets and computer programs, and our love of tamagotchis and robo-sapiens. His arguments in general though are a little weak, and most can be summarized as 'research shows humans are capable of being attached to non-human things and since wonderful advances in computer technology will happen in 20 years, humans will romantically love robots'. It's not exactly a slam dunk. There is though a lot of fascinating research on behaviour, computers, and psychology explained for the layman (that's me) to make this book a good read - but also, there's a good chance he's right.

[Ele Munjeli · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had to skip around to hold my interest in this intensely technical book. It examines research surrounding the impending phenomena of robot love through the perspective of attachment to pets and technology, sexual mores, the development of human love relationships, and sexology. On one hand I was like, no. On the other, I was intrigued. Which makes me not an innovator, but an early adapter, I guess. Following the book, I was searching for images for inspiration on a distinct project, and searched "cute robot" on Flickr. The resulting display convinced me that attitudes embracing affection with and for robots are already in place, and we only need more interactivity to follow through. The science is happening, and the public is ready.

[marcali · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating-- the sexual practices history is worth the read in of itself! Mind-boggling to consider that if a robot is programmed to respond emotionally, is that then for all intensive purposes, emotion? He makes a solid logical argument demonstrating likely directions societies will take as technology becomes more integrated and responsive.
Despite all this, however, one feels a slight embarrassment entertaining all of these possibilities when that same effort toward technology does not manage to feed, clothe, house, and care for the billions of people on this planet. In comparison striving to have a live "Real Doll" seems kinda silly.

[Wesley · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is so offensive that I couldn't finish it. I tried to get past Levy's obscenely prejudice views (which he makes very clear at every opportunity) but I couldn't. This man is disgustingly ignorant.

He did have some common sense, uninteresting, things to say about technology, which he padded quite a bit and took way more words than needed to say, but these things were far and few between his vulgar displays of hatred and contempt that have nothing to do with the subject of the book. Do not read.

[Cynda · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 * Describes the apparent progression in how we use robots. Levy makes solid clear and concise arguments about how the robots are developing into better humoid form, how we continually increase our dependence on robots. In his conclusion, Levy says that the insides of robots might resemble our insides and that ethical use of robots might become an issue. Interesting times.
Therapists and medical doctors and social workers might find this book to be something that they might want to share with those who need help physically/socially/sexually.

[Rakesh Satyal · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is the first book that i signed up in my new job at harpercollins, and i think it is one of the most entertaining and informative nonfiction books that i have read in quite some time. i think that there is a really palpable intersection between the cybergeek and the sexologist, and david levy describes the fascinating interplay of these psyches in here. i really believe that it's one of the wisest and most prophetic books around right now.

[Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was amazing. I found it utterly fascinating. For anyone interested in the human/computer relationships and their evolution as the field of robotics advances this is a must read. It is interesting from anthropological, sociological, psychological, economic, moral and philosophical points of view. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interesting in the evolution of the human/machine relationship.

[Doopa00 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mostly dull; although an interesting short history of sex toys. I dislike how the author's defense relies heavily on yet to be discovered technological discoveries ("that will surely be discovered").

I think Levy would have done better to find a good sci-fi writer and coauthored a fiction novel with similar themes. Though that may have only made it to the 24-hour News Stands.

[Alea Teeters · Rating 4 out of 5]

Includes a lot of good research and information on the future of robotics, with a bit of personal prediction that is sweepingly general and tries to take into account wide possibilities, but comes off as narrow and particular to one personality. Overall, I enjoyed it for the excellent survey of the more creative and psychology-based side of robotics and AI.

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

I gave up on this one about half way through. Pretty boring writer eve though he's a very knowledgeable person. Also it seemed strange that all of his case studies had to do with computers from 1985....

[Johnnywow · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well written coherent summary of the field. Since I am already obsessed with the topic and the nature of relationships generally, there was little new or diverting. A good book to get started thinking in the area.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

1) People fall in love
2) People form attachments
3) People use machines for physical needs
4) ????
5) Hot buttery robot love!

Point 1-3 are fleshed out well. Point 5 is the conclusion. Point 4 is what's lacking.

[Barry]

If the robot were gorgeous would you want to have sex with it? How about if it were smart? A skilled lover? If it seemed to think you were the best thing since sliced bread? David Levy tried really hard to talk us into it.

[Mathieu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written in a limpid, accessible style. I'm not rating it higher because I already agreed with every point the author made (not his fault, granted), which made for interesting (new substantiation of arguments I believe in) but not thought-provoking (new ideas/concepts) reading.

[Fancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still haven't finished with this book but I love everything about it. It's a lot of fun. (Audio version please!!!)

[Wendi]

I found the author's thesis that because humans love pets, they will love (and then have sex with) robots, implausible.