Love and Sex with Robots

The Evolution of Human-Robot Relationships

By: David Levy

Narrated by: James Adams

Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

From a leading expert in artificial intelligence comes an eye-opening, superbly argued book that explores the surprising new frontiers of human intimacy and relationships.

From Pygmalion falling for his chiseled Galatea to Dr. Frankenstein marveling at his creature, humans have been enthralled by the possibilities of emotional relationships with their technological creations. Synthesizing cutting-edge research in robotics with the psychology and cultural history of artificial intelligence, Love and Sex with Robots explores this fascination and its far-reaching implications.

David Levy's shocking yet persuasive argument is that the entities we once deemed cold and mechanical will soon become the objects of real companionship and human desire.

©2007 David N. L. Levy (P)2009 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Fascinating. It raises important questions about the future of robots...and what our interactions with them might teach us about ourselves." ( New Scientist)
"[Levy] comes up with so many rational, scientific, and sociologically sound arguments that the deeper you get into the book, the more difficult it becomes to dismiss his thesis." ( Chicago Sun-Times)

Somewhat disappointing

I chose this book because the subject has fascinated me since I first read about it as a young man. Recently that interest has flared because of the love story implicit in the television series, Terminator, The Sarah Connor Chronicles between the robot, Cameron Phillips and John Connor.

Everything about this book is done well, the sound is good, but unfortunately, it rather goes on like a commercial for future said robots.


I kept on wondering when the reader was going to get to the pitch, "Yours for just $, but call now"!


If you can struggle through the pitch, there is much of interest, but this book needs above all, a savage editor.



brendan

Interesting premise

This guy seriously needs an editor though. He makes the same points over and over and over again in excruciating detail. I got this book on the recommendation of Dan Savage on his "Savage Love" sex advice podcast, and I don't regret it as it is quite interesting--it's just that it should have been about half the length.

Not as Interesting as it Sounds

Any additional comments?

As my headline for this review suggests, this book isn't as exciting as its title makes it out to be. The first 10 or so hours are spent painstakingly going through the history of robotics up until this point in history. As you might have guessed, it wasn't that interesting.

The book DOES pick up a bit from there once it starts extrapolating into the future but by then, the first 2/3 of the book has left such a sour taste in your mouth, it's hard to even appreciate it.

Unless you're really interested in the history of robotics, skip this one.

6.1 / 10

Don't waste your time with this crap book

What disappointed you about Love and Sex with Robots?

Levy significantly relies and uses psychological studies as evidence, but he is not a psychologist. And therefore does not have a credible standing to be USING such research for a ridiculous topic. (Never would I choose to read this crap, I was forced to for class.) The majority of the book is about non-existent programming and ideas that Levy has, while the other half is basically about the existing vibrators and sex toys that he thinks will contribute to "human" robots. Ridiculous jabbering from a fool! If I could give this ZERO stars, I surely would.

Would you be willing to try another one of James Adams’s performances?

James Adams's was fine. Nice to listen to, if it wasn't for the crap he was reading.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Love and Sex with Robots?

THE ENTIRE BOOK

My mistake I'm sorry?

Hi,
I normally do not give out bad advice, feelings, judgments to anyone. Why? What goes around, comes around and I would not want anyone to hurt a rating I would need to be positive (such as when you're dealing on E-bay). So I'll leave this review as, "I hope this helps with this person's (David Levy's) with his doctorate or his university's need to pump out a book. This book is loaded with information that I would enjoy more with my wife than a certain form of AI.

I would think and AI programed to do such sexual things would no doubt do it's job better than my wife, but in the long run - it's not my wife and only a lonely soul would probably need this. I would think being lonely still would not be up to an AI to fix that! Maybe, the opposite single sex would do better to give aid to a person of need! In the long run, this is not the kind of book I would read when trying to find a new scifi book or a non-fiction. I would enjoy the book, "Einstein", (and I listen to that book and enjoyed that) over this book. It's my fault, I thought I was listening to a scifi book when I picked it out! My bad!

Thru the Binary Mentality of a Master Chessplayer

If the book's title is what drew your curiosity enough to pay, it's best to start midway or so on CH14 to get to the point.

Ultimately, this AI-familiar Chessmaster might have made an arguably worthwhile book if he had only coordinated with a diverse and *living* set of "Master" players in the field of Human-sexuality (read: sexual psychologists, sexologists, and/or even longtime sex workers) as partner author/editors. With assistance, he could have been able to offer some actual credence to opining over future matters of ethics and human sexuality with androids/robots.

As it is, it's a poorly edited musing of a doddering layperson eventually asserting their androcentric and invariably binary (⚫ vs ⚪) comprehension of how "things" - human or otherwise - operate.