Love, marriage, and sex with robots? Not in a million years? Maybe a whole lot sooner.From a leading expert in artificial intelligence comes an eye...
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Jan 16, 2012
Geoffrey
rated it: 
The book discusses, at length, sex in the western world (with a bit of Japan thrown in as well, but very, very little). Levy's main discussion is focused on justifying why, in his mind, sex, love, and even marriage to robots will be acceptable about mid-century, and he attempts to tie our changing sexual attitudes to his hypothesis.
I can't really say that I disagree with him, but I don't think the book makes the argument as opposed to just forecasting it. He's saying, because our att More...
I can't really say that I disagree with him, but I don't think the book makes the argument as opposed to just forecasting it. He's saying, because our att More...
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Jan 13, 2010
Christopher
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Should I create a "robot sex" shelf for this? Probably.
Seriously, the book was pretty dull, but I think I knew it was going to be. The history of sex toys part was quite interesting, which is really all that gets this book two stars. It could have made a four-star essay.
Be forewarned: reading this book in the library is hilarious. People will look at you like you are insane, so make sure to hold the cover out so people can see what you are reading. If you can g More...
Seriously, the book was pretty dull, but I think I knew it was going to be. The history of sex toys part was quite interesting, which is really all that gets this book two stars. It could have made a four-star essay.
Be forewarned: reading this book in the library is hilarious. People will look at you like you are insane, so make sure to hold the cover out so people can see what you are reading. If you can g More...
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Jan 16, 2012
Alea
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Includes a lot of good research and information on the future of robotics, with a bit of personal prediction that is sweepingly general and tries to take into account wide possibilities, but comes off as narrow and particular to one personality. Overall, I enjoyed it for the excellent survey of the more creative and psychology-based side of robotics and AI.
Jan 16, 2012
"Fascinating. It raises important questions about the future of robots...and what our interactions with them might teach us about ourselves." - New Scientist
Listen to Love and Sex with Robots on your smartphone.
Listen to Love and Sex with Robots on your smartphone.
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Jul 07, 2011
M0rningstar
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Robots and androids have enthralled me ever since I was a little kid (C-3PO and R2-D2 were the only parts of Star Wars that I gave a toss about.) So imagine my surprise and delight when I happened upon this book.
The author does a good enough job of gathering relevant research findings (although his presentation is not always clear), but the conclusions he draws from them are laughably simplistic. For example, he asserts that robots will be readily accepted, even preferred, candidates More...
The author does a good enough job of gathering relevant research findings (although his presentation is not always clear), but the conclusions he draws from them are laughably simplistic. For example, he asserts that robots will be readily accepted, even preferred, candidates More...
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Apr 11, 2010
Ele
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I had to skip around to hold my interest in this intensely technical book. It examines research surrounding the impending phenomena of robot love through the perspective of attachment to pets and technology, sexual mores, the development of human love relationships, and sexology. On one hand I was like, no. On the other, I was intrigued. Which makes me not an innovator, but an early adapter, I guess. Following the book, I was searching for images for inspiration on a distinct project, and search
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Jan 16, 2012
Couldn't find the book I was looking for at the library, but saw this on a nearby shelf. Hope it's interesting!
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May 19, 2009
Elise
rated it:
I wrote the below (see quoted text) when I was halfway through the book. I have to say, my opinion of the book improved with the second half. Levy abandoned a lot of his writing foibles that annoyed me so, and his history of the sex toy industry was awesome. Three stars.
"I'm about halfway through this book and so far I agree with most of the mediocre reviews others have given it. The topic is fascinating, the facts in Levy's book are fascinating, his writing style is insuffe More...
"I'm about halfway through this book and so far I agree with most of the mediocre reviews others have given it. The topic is fascinating, the facts in Levy's book are fascinating, his writing style is insuffe More...
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Jul 30, 2010
I didn't get THAT far into the book, only about 60 pages or so. I dropped it because it was not what i thought it would be, and i thought it was boring. At first the idea of a book about the psychological, emotional, and cultural impacts of love/sex with robots would be interesting, but this book is more of "don't be afraid of the future because we already doing it." In my opinion this book was written to justify an emotional attachment to a non human being, but i already have no probl
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Jan 04, 2011
Osho
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The structural problem with the delivery of an otherwise fine idea is that Levy's writing is rarely exciting. I appreciate his effort to construct his argument slowly and methodically, yet the result is a fairly boring work, considering the subject matter. Levy spends a lot of time building evidence for the contention that people would have love and sex with androids. Perhaps because I read a lot of science fiction, or perhaps because this conceit does not seem very far-fetched to me, I found mu
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Apr 04, 2008
Adam
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By 2029, robots will be moving about as with as much animal grace as you or I. By 2035, they’ll be conversing in ways that seem so natural it will be hard to tell them apart. And around that time, we’ll be getting them into bed — or they’ll be seducing us. The cyborgs are coming, and they’re bringing, writes David Levy, “great sex on tap for everyone, 24/7.”
We’re a nation as fearful of robots as Japan (where Toyota, by 2010, plans to roll out models that serve tea and look after the More...
We’re a nation as fearful of robots as Japan (where Toyota, by 2010, plans to roll out models that serve tea and look after the More...
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Apr 04, 2008
Carrie
rated it:
I really wanted to love this book. I tried to overlook its shortcomings and congratulate it for its successes. But ultimately, it just didn't do it for me. I got tired of the author's insistence, every page or so, that I will probably be having awesome robot sex with Terminator-quality androids by the time I'm 70 (that's when he predicts that they'll be widely available and affordable).
It's not the idea of robot sex that bugged me; I think he's probably right that in a few decad More...
It's not the idea of robot sex that bugged me; I think he's probably right that in a few decad More...
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May 29, 2009
mark
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Defiance and Maggie are my two girlfriends. Defiance is a bronze statue and Maggie is a rag doll. They both have personalities and attitudes. They "live" with me, and, for the most part, I enjoy their company. You might think me crazy but I say I’m ahead of the times, an "early adapter." In his book "Love + Sex with Robots," David Levy posits that by mid-century: love and sex and marriage with humanoid robots will be popular. He sites a lot of personal and social be
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Feb 12, 2008
Priya
rated it:
Saw the author in a Colbert Report interview (he was rather amusing but appeared to take himself a bit too seriously) and found this book at my local library. It's a quick read and I finished it over a weekend, in between bouts of being sick.
The book is entertaining though I feel automatically marginalised since a) the author seems to be focused upon men having female robots for company and b) he spends too much time justifying why robots are appropriate for loving and capable of pr More...
The book is entertaining though I feel automatically marginalised since a) the author seems to be focused upon men having female robots for company and b) he spends too much time justifying why robots are appropriate for loving and capable of pr More...
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Dec 07, 2011
Jason
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David Levy's book is a discussion of how and why we may be intimate with robots in the near future. The very possibility is worth reading about, and indeed Levy gives us much to read and think about, referencing much research done into human behaviour and relationships in general, and more specific research into our relationships with pets and computer programs, and our love of tamagotchis and robo-sapiens. His arguments in general though are a little weak, and most can be summarized as 'resea
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Feb 22, 2010
John
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This book seemed to be written by a very smart, precocious, 11-year old boy with Asperger's. So imagine my surprise when I saw the author's photo in the back jacket flap.
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May 13, 2008
marcali
rated it: 
Fascinating-- the sexual practices history is worth the read in of itself! Mind-boggling to consider that if a robot is programmed to respond emotionally, is that then for all intensive purposes, emotion? He makes a solid logical argument demonstrating likely directions societies will take as technology becomes more integrated and responsive.
Despite all this, however, one feels a slight embarrassment entertaining all of these possibilities when that same effort toward technology does not More...
Despite all this, however, one feels a slight embarrassment entertaining all of these possibilities when that same effort toward technology does not More...
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Jul 31, 2011
Cynmo
rated it:
His analysis section uses materials and sources that overlap from those I used in my dissertation on Artificial Vaginas and Sex Dolls.
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Feb 09, 2012
Hom
rated it:
Reads better the second time around four years later. Still, I think most people would find his predictions creepy. But then so were inter-racial marriage and gay-marriage in their time.
Sep 22, 2008
Wesley
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This book is so offensive that I couldn't finish it. I tried to get past Levy's obscenely prejudice views (which he makes very clear at every opportunity) but I couldn't. This man is disgustingly ignorant.
He did have some common sense, uninteresting, things to say about technology, which he padded quite a bit and took way more words than needed to say, but these things were far and few between his vulgar displays of hatred and contempt that have nothing to do with the subject of the More...
He did have some common sense, uninteresting, things to say about technology, which he padded quite a bit and took way more words than needed to say, but these things were far and few between his vulgar displays of hatred and contempt that have nothing to do with the subject of the More...
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Jan 16, 2012
Read this one for research--pretty wild stuff. Gave me lots to talk about at parties!!! ;)
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Oct 10, 2009
I found the author's thesis that because humans love pets, they will love (and then have sex with) robots, implausible.
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Oct 12, 2007
Rakesh
rated it:
this is the first book that i signed up in my new job at harpercollins, and i think it is one of the most entertaining and informative nonfiction books that i have read in quite some time. i think that there is a really palpable intersection between the cybergeek and the sexologist, and david levy describes the fascinating interplay of these psyches in here. i really believe that it's one of the wisest and most prophetic books around right now.
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Oct 10, 2009
Morgan
rated it:
This book was amazing. I found it utterly fascinating. For anyone interested in the human/computer relationships and their evolution as the field of robotics advances this is a must read. It is interesting from anthropological, sociological, psychological, economic, moral and philosophical points of view. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interesting in the evolution of the human/machine relationship.
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Nov 17, 2008
Doopa00
rated it:
Mostly dull; although an interesting short history of sex toys. I dislike how the author's defense relies heavily on yet to be discovered technological discoveries ("that will surely be discovered").
I think Levy would have done better to find a good sci-fi writer and coauthored a fiction novel with similar themes. Though that may have only made it to the 24-hour News Stands.
I think Levy would have done better to find a good sci-fi writer and coauthored a fiction novel with similar themes. Though that may have only made it to the 24-hour News Stands.
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Apr 13, 2008
Mathieu
rated it:
Written in a limpid, accessible style. I'm not rating it higher because I already agreed with every point the author made (not his fault, granted), which made for interesting (new substantiation of arguments I believe in) but not thought-provoking (new ideas/concepts) reading.
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Apr 29, 2008
If the robot were gorgeous would you want to have sex with it? How about if it were smart? A skilled lover? If it seemed to think you were the best thing since sliced bread? David Levy tried really hard to talk us into it.
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Jan 24, 2008
Johnnywow
rated it:
A well written coherent summary of the field. Since I am already obsessed with the topic and the nature of relationships generally, there was little new or diverting. A good book to get started thinking in the area.
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Feb 10, 2008
Mike
rated it:
1) People fall in love
2) People form attachments
3) People use machines for physical needs
4) ????
5) Hot buttery robot love!
Point 1-3 are fleshed out well. Point 5 is the conclusion. Point 4 is what's lacking.
2) People form attachments
3) People use machines for physical needs
4) ????
5) Hot buttery robot love!
Point 1-3 are fleshed out well. Point 5 is the conclusion. Point 4 is what's lacking.
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Jan 04, 2008
Andrew
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I gave up on this one about half way through. Pretty boring writer eve though he's a very knowledgeable person. Also it seemed strange that all of his case studies had to do with computers from 1985....
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