Would You Have A Romantic Relationship With A Robot?
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| Source - Technot.com |
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First, robots steal our jobs. Next, will they steal your girlfriend? There's no question about it, technology is changing romance as we know it. It's created a veritable minefield of issues that would leave Dear Abby scratching her head even in her heyday. Should I swipe left or swipe right? Should I use a dating app at all? Are the emoticons I'm using saying that I'm desperate? And if humanoid robots become possible or even plentiful, will it be considered cheating if you have a side relationship with a robot? Engineers are always making progress in realms like natural language processing, bio realistic movement, and sensors that can parse human facial expressions. So it may be just 20 to 40 years before we see romance bots hit store shelves. There are already chat-bots that can simulate sympathizing or flirting or sexting with users.
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| Source - blog.gds-gov.tech |
Most of them are just novelties, but a few have some real psycho-social thought and AI programming behind them. And lots of people own sexual aids, which are basically dumb robots that you use for pleasure, either with yourself or with a partner, but it's generally not considered cheating. So where is that line? Back in 2013, the Huffington Post and YouGov had a survey. They asked one thousand demographically representative US adults a series of questions. One of those was: If someone were in an exclusive relationship and they then had sex with a robot, would that be considered cheating? 42% of respondents said yes, and another 26% said they weren't sure. So the line appears to be an emotional one. Now we know that relationship would be one-sided. The robot wouldn't feel anything at all. But to the human, it would all seem very real. Today's simple chat-bots could evolve into advanced AI in the future that could remember every conversation you ever have. They'd never judge you. They could be customizable to meet your emotional needs.
Now it's important to remember that nfidelity isn't just a single act. It's really spending energy outside of a relationship without your partner's permission. In the end, relationships are built on trust and communication, and no technological advancement is going to change that. But it might change the types of conversations you need to have with your significant other. Now these romantic robots could be a boon for lonely people. But if that lonely person is already in a relationship, they should probably do what experts suggest you do right now, which is have an open, honest conversation with your significant other. Talk about your mutual and individual wants and needs and how to fulfill them, and your feelings, robotic or otherwise. But I've got a question for you guys this week. If someone were to come up to you and say their significant other was cheating on them with a robot, what would you say? Wanna hear your comments below.
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