I think sex robots are cool, but I don’t think they’re hot.
Everyone is talking about A.I. these days. It feels like most of the pitches in my inbox are about new A.I.-based dating apps, sex toys, erotica websites, and on and on. Robots are flooding the zone!
Like many people, though, I have mixed feelings on A.I., particularly on its usefulness within the realms of sex and love. I have written a lot about sex robots over the years (most notably, this fancy column on the future of sexuality that I was commissioned to write for The Walrus) and have even sexted with an A.I., and while I think these robots are interesting toys and tools, I fundamentally don’t think they are hot…
…because I think, for me, the hottest thing about sex (and kissing, and flirting, etc.!) is wanting and being wanted, and a robot is inherently incapable of desire. It does not want me. It cannot want me. And so I cannot truly want it, either.