xkcd: android girlfriend + future sex at LeWeb 2009

by Violet Blue on June 15, 2009


Click through to read the rest, you will not regret it.

After spending most of my day editing translated transcripts (English to Viennese to English ::sigh) from a talk I gave last year on “technology and the erotic” for an international sex and technology conference, it’s appropriate that JT simultaneously sent me xkcd’s Android Girlfriend comic. The mouse-over makes a really good point; it’s what I’m trying to warn you people about. Think sex with machines is consumer-driven in its desire, adoption and applications? Yes, it is, but throw in AI, put her on your phone with its touch screen, let her use different bodies (like a RealDoll) and… I’m just sayin’. This is all like, so last year (literally). Give the bot girls libidos and autonomous brains and you’re all in trouble. I promise. I’m working on an army in my garage/lab right now. Resistance is futile. Learn to use your iPhone with your tongue and you have a higher chance for survival.

If you want to hear [audio] what I had to say in my re-translation today, here is a direct link to the MP3 (1 hour long). The previous year after presenting about sex and tech, Mark Dery came up to me right after my talk and excitedly told me I was “an anti-evangelist, evangelist” for sex and technology. Yes, I freaked out quietly inside because he’s one of my heroes.

Which leads me to — GREAT news: today I was invited to present at LeWeb in Paris this December. Topic: The Future of Sex. I’m going to squeal with excitement and run in tight little giggly gleeful circles any second now. Looks like I’ll be in good company — I already see friends in the lineup

Violet Blue

The London Times named Violet Blue "One of the 40 bloggers who really count" and Self Magazine named TinyNibbles one of the “Best Sex Resources for Women.” Blue is an autodidact and pundit on sex and technology, hacking and security, porn for women, privacy and bleeding-edge tech culture. She is a journalist for ZDNet, CBS News, CNET; she's an educator, speaker, crisis counselor, volunteer NGO trainer, and the author and editor of over 40 award-winning books.

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{ 3 comments }

1 R June 16, 2009 at 6:32 pm

Charles Stross’ book Saturn’s Children has a lot to say about what you would have to do to make a sexbot.

2 k0mmissar June 16, 2009 at 3:41 am
3 Anonymous June 15, 2009 at 11:12 pm

Hi Violet,

I couldn’t find a contact for you on your webpage, but thought you might be interested in this…

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25641940-2862,00.html

I’m not sure, but I think this is the Aussie company that run ishotmyself, ifeelmyself and Abby Winters among others. It’s ridiculous that in this day and age porn is still illegal in Australia (well except for the A.C.T.)

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