Thanks to AI, these sex robots will be able to chat with you like a real human being! The result is as stunning as it is worrying and raises many questions…
Imagine a near future where your ideal partner would be a robot equipped with artificial intelligence allowing it to interact in a quasi-human way. A perspective that seems straight out of an episode of Black Mirror, and yet it will soon become reality. You may have heard about it before, but the sex doll market is booming. These are large silicone dolls with a hyper-realistic rendering, fully customizable, intended to satisfy all your “needs”. They are equipped with numerous sensors on their “skin” in order to make your legs in the air as realistic as possible. But unlike a simple inflatable doll, they have a personality – which you can choose, such as “moody”, “cute”, “insecure”, etc. – and make conversation with you. Some of them even require being seduced before giving you what you want.
But things should go even further. Chinese company Starpery Technology, one of the country’s largest sex doll manufacturers, is developing its own Large Language Model (LLM) to integrate into its sex robots and pass the latter at the higher level. Its conversational AI system will initially be intended for prototypes of male and female sex dolls. The first models should be marketed from August 2024.
While it’s not the first AI-enabled sex robot to emerge in China, Starpery CEO Evan Lee has hinted that its new models will be a game-changer. “The new generation of sex dolls, powered by AI models and equipped with sensors, can respond with both movement and speech, significantly improving the user experience with an emphasis on emotional connection rather than basic conversation skills”he explains.
Indeed, the biggest obstacle to the creation of sex robots equipped with speech is linked to the fact that they behave very robotically. Also, the use of a language model similar to ChatGPT aims to allow them to simulate empathetic behavior and some awareness of the user’s emotions. “There remain technological challenges to overcome, in particular to achieve realistic human interaction”concedes Evan Lee. “While a simple dialogue is easy, creating interactive responses requires the development of complex models by specialized software companies”.
The imminent arrival of sex robots equipped with artificial intelligence raises many ethical and societal questions. What impact will these machines have on human relations? Can you fall in love with a robot? What deviations could appear? Could these machines be more efficient than humans in bed – after all, they are already supplanting us in driving, chess, analysis, etc. – and, if so, are we not at risk? a loss of interest in flesh and blood partners? And what about the question of the doll’s consent? Advances in this technology raise many questions and promise us considerable brain knots.