Artificial Love

[yogi]

This is the dawning of the age of robotics and artificial intelligence. The big fear at present is over the possibility that the bots will become smarter than us humans and the gods only know what they will do with us. But, until we get to that point, some interesting scenarios are being developed for public consumption. One of the most interesting along these lines is a true to life sex doll. The new generation of doll will do more than just offer robotic carnal pleasures - they will be intelligent after all. You will be able to converse with them and they will learn all about your likes and dislikes to which they will respond appropriately. There is some speculation that these Intelligent sex dolls could end up being more intimate and more sensual than the real thing. Taking that a little further, it can be seen where humans would likely fall in love with such a creation. It's not as impossible as you might suspect.

http://www.cnet.com/news/can-a-robot-me ... ely-heart/

[Kellemora]

Not the same thing, but I had the privilege of touring a totally computerized home when I was down in Florida.
Although the main feature was everything was controlled by voice command or pre-programmed functions, such as turning windows dark when the sun hit them.
But the computer seemed also to have some bit of intelligence, even though this was a demo.
The guide took off his shoes and put on a pair of slippers while in the bedroom. Then when we got to the front door to leave, the computer addressed him by name and stated he was wearing slippers instead of shoes.
Earlier when we entered the kitchen, the computer asked if everyone wanted coffee, the guide responded with not today.
As we left each room, if it sensed no one was in the room, it turned off the lights, if they were on.
Some phrases had to be stated in a certain way to prevent accidental changes. Saying "boy it's hot in here" would not cause the AC to kick on or adjust to a lower temperature. I forget what he said to demonstrate, but it was something like Utility Menu, HVAC, temporary override, reduce temperature to 70 degrees for ten minutes. It responded with your passphrase please.
It was an interesting tour!

I agree, I wonder what happens when they learn to build themselves and make themselves smarter, hi hi...

[pilvikki]

hmmm... would the laws of robotics work?

and why only for men?

[Icey]

I have a feeling that these sex dolls'll appeal to men more than to women. Whereas sex can just be a function/need for most men, women prefer to have some feelings involved in the act. Even if a robot doll was programmed to respond with the sort of words which women like to hear, we'd be aware that it was only doing so because that was its job. Human beings're so different, and emotions can literally be felt. I think we have a long, long way to go before robots'd be able to do this.

[yogi]

and why only for men?

That's exactly what I was wondering. It just goes to show you where all the money spent on porn comes from.

[pilvikki]

yeah, come to think of it, I've not spent much time/money on it and last saw any was when some jerk gave me an address for this awesome 'self-help gardening' site... and then I couldn't get off that page without shutting the whole thing down. I thought loki'd gotten an std.... boy, was I mad! that was in 1996.

[Icey]

I know that some women enjoy porn just as much as many men do. Personally it doesn't bother me whether it's there or not, but I don't have any desire to watch it. From what I've heard, watching too much of it can have a numbing effect on real-life relationships. What starts off as an extra turn-on can lead to folk not being able to function without it, or be disappointed with the real thing? What do you think? Is this true?

[yogi]

Vikki - next time you are locked onto a web page, give it the three finger solute; press ctrl+alt+del. Then select the Task Manager and shut off the offending process from there. I'd also run all my security software after getting trapped like that, but I'm a pretty paranoid kind of geek.

Icey - Porn is popular among men more so than women because it supports the notion of male dominance. It's a man's world, you know? I enjoy it as much as anybody but get turned off when women are obviously being brutalized and abused under the guise of passionate love. Then again, there are females who seem to want and need the abuse.

The idea of porn being able to desensitize one's libido doesn't hold true. Sexual intercourse and all its derivatives are the kind of things that you want more of as each time you engage in the activity. You would think too much of a good thing isn't desirable, but for the most part it works just the opposite in terms of sex. But, as we all know, sex is not love. The idea behind intelligent and realistic robots is that they can be made to satisfy all the sentient needs a real person is expected to provide. People that are socially awkward would be highly attracted to such a thing given that all their human needs for love can be satisfied simply by keeping the bot's battery charged. The question is will the bot cost less than what it costs to capture and support a human mate over the long term.

[Icey]

Actually Yogi, you have a good point there. Those who're socially awkward , disabled or house/hospital bound and have little chance of meeting anyone to have a sexual relationship with, may indeed find a robot useful, but rather than knowing that your partner's a machine, if I was in that situation, I'd rather enlist the services of an "escort". I somehow can't imagine a machine being able to fulfill a role of closeness and empathy like another human being can give, even though it's rare for a sex worker to genuinely offer that as well.

I don't know, but were I to feel the need, I don't think I'd be interested in a robot companion, although I can imagine that a good few men might want to sample one.

[pilvikki]

thanks, dennis, but no worries, I've not had that problem in a long time now. I do need the salute every so often when chrome hangs.

as for dolls...




I quite enjoyed the episodes dealing with his humanity.

[Icey]