Robots May Soon Be On E-Harmony And Match.com

Okay this may be for real or just another case of “something absurd this way comes”, if you will. According to an article published by Sandra Helsel, December 25, 2016, some robotics experts predict we’ll be doing far more with robots than eliminating jobs. David Levy, author of “Love and Sex With Robots”, predicts that human-robot marriages would be legal by 2050. Adrian Cheok, computing professor at City University London and director of the Mixed Reality Lab in Singapore, claims the prediction is not too far from reality.

First off, this fortifies the concept of “opposites attract” since the parties involved will not share similar physical makeups. A single-board computer is not a kidney, and a human heart is not a dc power supply.

Second, in a free society, one can associate with anyone or anything one chooses. On what level that association takes place may be open to question if that level breaks established laws. If same-sex marriage brought about heated debates broaching violence, one could only imagine the level of confrontational weaselry that will arise when the robot-human marriage agenda goes mainstream.

All of that aside, the robot spouse market could lead to some interesting innovations, the first of which would names for spousal robots. Some possible names for male robots could be Stay at Home Dad, Meal Ticket, Gigolo, Sugar Daddy, etc. For the female machines, a first and obvious choice would have to be Barbie, maybe Big Barbie. After that, some names include Beneficiary and, in the case of a divorce, Plaintiff.

Jumping on the bandwagon early in the game, Turing Robot, in partnership with baihe.com (an Asian dating site), offers what it calls the worlds' first Relationship-Practicing Robot. The robot is fashioned as a single woman around 26 years old and 165 cm in height. Its features are described as stereo-typically attractive.

The robot is not available for purchase yet, however, the company claims users can experience interacting with it online. Apparently the URL for that experience is a big secret, good luck trying to find it.

The Turing Robot is said to have an intelligent robot brain capable of communicating vividly and fluently with humans. However, it should be clear that the company’s initial plan for the Turing Robot is not for marriage to humans, but to act as a relationship guide or counselor. One example of its use through the dating site is to act as blind date that shows it’s suitor how to behave in relationship situations. Hell, TV sitcoms couldn’t do it, might as well give the robot a shot.

Like any new concept, we will certainly have to wait and see where this leads. Stated earlier, this topic will probably raise far more than a few eyebrows until debaters get bored or distracted.

Based on other things that were once considered absurd and are now seamlessly accepted, robo marriage will probably catch on big. However, if a robot showed up to take my daughter to the prom, I would not let her out of the house unless she took a can opener with her, just in case roboboy decided to get frisky. ~MD