Love + Sex With Robots: The Evolution of Human-Robot Relationships (Levy, D.; 2007) [Book Review]

The reviewer feels this book is a provocative and engaging romp through the prediction that by the middle of this century, robots will have joined the extended human family that now includes dogs, cats, horses, and their virtual counterparts, and will have taken on the characteristics that, in the old feminist joke, induced God to create men: She realized that vibrators couldn't dance. When robots dance, make eye contact, smile, make jokes, and simulate love for us, the reviewer finds it entirely plausible that some of us will love them in return. It is argued that while Levy is clearly a technological visionary, his predictions cannot simply be dismissed as preposterous. Levy points to philosophical issues that deserve thought and debate as we move closer to having true android robots in our lives. There is much to ponder in this book, for example, about the very issues raised repeatedly in Star Trek episodes: does an android have rights? Can it have its own self-defined sexuality and reproduce if it wants to? Are virtual emotions "real"? Levy's answers direct our attention to the Turing test: if we experience these future robot characteristics as human, in the same way that we currently project human emotions onto animals, then nothing further will be necessary to make robots attractive as partners.