Love machine! Sex with robots will be normal by 2070, claims academic

Humans will be regularly engaging in sexual activity with robots and may be falling in love with them by 2070, a top academic has claimed

According to Dr Helen Driscoll, an expert in the psychology of sex at the University of Sunderland, sexual technology or ‘sex tech’ is advancing so rapidly that within a century physical relationships will seem backward and primitive.

In theory, anyone with a lust for rust will be able to engage in copious amounts of what is termed ‘robophilia’ without raising an eyebrow from the neighbors. People may even begin to “fall in love with their virtual reality partners.” 

Referring to the burgeoning trade in technologically advanced sex dolls, Driscoll told the Daily Mirror: “It could really start to enable mannequin partners to ‘come to life.’

“We tend to think about issues such as virtual reality and robotic sex within the context of current norms.

“But if we think back to the social norms about sex that existed just 100 years ago, it is obvious that they have changed rapidly and radically,” she said.

Driscoll believes that the steady march of technology will dictate how well robot sex is received.

“As virtual reality becomes more realistic and immersive and is able to mimic and even improve on the experience of sex with a human partner; it is conceivable that some will choose this in preference to sex with a less than perfect human being.”

“People may also begin to fall in love with their virtual reality partners.”

Drsicoll predicts people will increasingly integrate virtual experience into their lives, though she concedes that sex with robots could come to be seen as infidelity.

Nevertheless, Driscoll claims: “In the world of the future, we could well see human relationships increasingly conducted entirely online. 

“And, as some people start to prefer technologically enhanced virtual sex to sex with humans, we may also see greater numbers of people living alone, spending more time in virtual reality.”

Questions remain, however, over whether or not virtual or robot relationships can truly satisfy.

“Currently the lack of human contact could be harmful. Humans are naturally sociable and a lack of human contact could lead to loneliness, which is linked to various mental and physical health problems.

“But, in the long term, technology may overcome these problems,” she added.