A recent newspaper article reported that we would be having sex with robots by the year 2050. These mechanical dreams are supposed to be so similar in intelligence and emotions to us that they will be indistinguishable from the typical person. Besides having sex with them the article also suggested we will be marrying them. 

I suppose if we can learn to love animals we could learn to love a machine that acts, feels and responds as humans do. But what of our unique human characteristics like emotions? When the robot has an orgasm will it be unique to that robot, or, similar to all robots? At what point will we loose interest in the robot because of its lack of emotional growth? Will we have to regularly update its software so we can have new experiences with it? Will the machines that are wired for sex be designed to top the human experience? And how many of us will buy into this for the sake of advertising and marketing, or even curiosity? 

It stimulates our minds to explore the unknown. But we can either use our desire to explore the unknown for a positive affect on our relationships, or we can use it to negatively affect our relationships. If we have sex in an elevator do we then have to have it on an airplane? If we do a threesome with two girls, will we have to do a threesome with two robots? We are looking for that next intense experience. We have shown we would rather take a pill to solve sexual issues than to teach our partners how our bodies work so we can give each other more pleasure sexually. Will robots take away the desire to become more deeply connected with our human loves? 

What about the possibility of discovering for ourselves that we don’t have ED (erectile dysfunction)? Or, how about discovering that our female partner really is saying no to us because it just isn’t as good for her as we think it is? We live in a fast-paced society and we have been programmed with the wrong information for too long. If you look at the magazine stands they are filled with articles claiming to have the answer, yet we still have relationship revolving doors. 

We should never underestimate technology. After all, look at where we’ve arrived just in the last 20 years. But it seems to me that there will always be something just a little different about humans that will always make them more enjoyable partners, both in and out of bed, than a programmed machine. Little nuances like unpredictability and emotional responses that come from experiences just might always keep us a bit different. 

We should begin putting more value on our human sexual relationships and we can do that through programs like Pillow Talk and by trying to live just a bit differently than we have been. We need to stop doing the stuff that keeps us away from the human experience. We need to turn off the TV, get off the computer, stop working late at the office, and spend some quality time together. 

Time will certainly answer the questions, but between now and then we should grab all the experience we can with the humans we love now.