How to tell if your robot really loves you

October 18, 11:00 PMCleveland Open Relationships ExaminerGaylen Moore

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RealDoll: Roxanne2
commons.wikimedia.org (File:Roxanne2 for Wiki.jpg)

Anyone watching the TED video below, will see that David Hanson's robot heads look and act human. They recognize and respond to emotion, and they make amazingly realistic expressions of their own. The technology to give robots human-like capabilities for body movement is also coming along quite impressively. In the TED video, for example, one will see a robot walking. Of course, facial expressions and human-like movement are of little value unless they are guided by intelligence. Artificial intelligence is the most difficult challenge confronting those wishing to build realistic robots, but here as well we are starting to make some impressive progress. And finally, on a seemingly unrelated note, some manufacturers are making some very realistic sex dolls (see, for example, First Android and RealDoll and this RealDoll Documentary).

The implications are obvious: Before very long some people will begin having sex with - and falling in love with - robots. Some researchers in robotics and artificial intelligence predict that we will be having sex with robots soon – perhaps even within five years.

It is no secret that sex and pornography have fueled the development of numerous technologies over the past few decades, including video recording technologies and the stunning growth of the internet. It is also no secret that sex dolls have been getting more realistic over the past few years, and that major corporations are pushing the development of more intelligent, interactive computer software. According to David Levy, winner of the 2009 Loebner prize for the most human-like chatbot, we are quickly approaching the point at which entrepreneurs will see the benefits of investing the capital needed to combine life-like sex dolls with existing artificial intelligence technology.

In short, we will soon have dolls that can interact with their sexual partners through speech, movement, and intricate facial expressions. This raises a variety of moral, sociological, and practical questions.

Is it sinful to have sex with a robot? No doubt most religious fundamentalists will claim that is it, but we can say with equal certainty that the majority will not agree with the fundamentalists on this. After all, sex with robots would be a very safe form of sex. Escort agencies in Japan and Korea are already using sex dolls as a supplement to their real-life services; perhaps we are coming upon the day when prostitutes will routinely team up with robotic sex dolls. This 2-on-one option could be a great deal of fun for clients, and safer for the sex workers, since the robot member of the team could handle the bodily fluids, and perhaps even call for help if a sex worker finds herself or himself in danger. But there are many puzzles to consider.

If a married person has sex with a robot, is this cheating? If a married couple rents a robot for the night, is this swinging? If one or both of them fall in love with the robot, is this polyamory?

If David Levy is right, we may soon – very soon – have a whole new set of practical questions to confront concerning the nature of love and erotic desire. We've already seen that love and emotional attachment can extend beyond the realm of traditional human-to-human connection. For as long as we can remember, people have always loved their pets. The death of a family pet can be a deeply emotional time. Lately people have been falling in love with others on the internet without even meeting in person. How long will it be before people start to fall in love with their robots? And will they necessarily be crazy for doing so?

One of the criteria that we commonly use to distinguish sick vs. healthy forms of love comes down to this question: Is the one you love capable of loving you back? It is not clear that animals can "love" us in the same sense that we can love them, but most of us believe that animals do feel pain and pleasure, and are thus capable of truly showing affection. On account of this, most of us do not feel that loving a pet is emotionally unhealthy, although we do make a strong distinction between the type of love we have for our pets and the types of love we have for people. It seems clearly the case that an inflatable sex doll feels no pain or pleasure, so most people would feel rather foolish if they found themselves falling in love with one. Sure, we might love our car or our favorite pair of slippers, and we might even shed a tear when it comes time for our possessions to head for the trash, but falling in love with a robot could lead us into some grey areas, especially given the fact that we don't really know enough about the nature of consciousness to say with complete confidence whether or not a realistic-acting robot is sentient to some degree.

Here is the dilemma we will be facing soon: We already know that people will fall in love with their sexy robots, and we can confidently predict that robots will behave more and more like genuinely sentient beings as the years roll along. We can bet that within a few decades, someone will want to marry a robot. But will we ever be able to tell whether or not our robot really loves us in return? And to what extent will a robot's feelings – or lack of feelings – really matter to us?

When all is said and done, the bottom line may be that we will never really know for sure what, if anything, our robots are truly capable of feeling. One clue, however, is unpredictability. Many people dream of a completely loyal and faithful lover. There is little doubt that robots could be completely loyal and faithful. The question is: could such a perfect companion ever truly love you? There are some philosophical reasons for suspecting that it cannot. One very likely sign of genuine feeling is unpredictability. Given a choice between a completely trustworthy robot, and a slightly naughty robot with quirks that leave you wondering if it is always doing as it is told, which would you choose? If you simply want a robot that does what you want, you will obviously choose the former. But if you want a robot who feels genuine love for you, then you might be well-advised to choose the less predictable model.

True love is not about perfection, it's about the creative and therefore unpredictable interweaving of souls. And it comes with no money-back guarantees.