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The Science of Human-Robot Love

An anonymous reader writes "By harnessing a new sphere of science called 'lovotics', Hooman Samani, an artificial intelligence researcher at the Social Robotics Lab at the National University of Singapore, believes it is possible to engineer love between humans and robots. Samani's robots have artificial psychological and biological systems that mimic the human brain and endocrine systems, and use movements, sounds, and lights to show their mood and level of affection for a human."

137 comments

  1. Movements and sounds of human/machine love? by Kamiza+Ikioi · · Score: 4, Funny

    Bzzzzzzz.....

    --
    I8-D
    1. Re:Movements and sounds of human/machine love? by rbrausse · · Score: 1

      but at least the robot is able to get some haptic feedback of the act ;)

  2. Love? by WrongSizeGlass · · Score: 2

    Um, that's not called love. You can call it eccentric, kinky, quirky ... even obsessive and crazy. But love? No, that's not love.

    1. Re:Love? by Eponymous+Hero · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Neo: I just have never...
      Rama-Kandra: ...heard a program speak of love?
      Neo: It's a... human emotion.
      Rama-Kandra: No, it is a word. What matters is the connection the word implies.

      --
      insensitive clod overlords obligatory xkcd car analogy russian reversals whoosh pedant fanbois ftfy in 3...2...1..PROFIT
    2. Re:Love? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why not? Who are you to dictate what the definition of love is other than a biomechanical process(simulated or otherwise)?

    3. Re:Love? by Abreu · · Score: 1

      Let it be, this is not for you or me, its for the "forever alone" crowd...

      --
      No sig for the moment.
    4. Re:Love? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Whats the difference - our "love" is the result of biology. This is the result of electronics - but it takes you and the robot to the same place.

      - sex bots are more common than you think "-)

    5. Re:Love? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When it comes to AI, I think you're missing the point.

      The idea is that at some time in the near future, it will be impractical NOT to consider robots capable of love because you will HAVE to interact with them as though they are capable because they will behave as though they are capable.

      The question of whether the robot loves or not becomes completely moot because they will, in a quite verbal sense, love.

      'Love' is a verb, by the way, unless you're referring to a concept that embodies the actions of 'love'. 'Love' is not an emotion.

    6. Re:Love? by guybrush3pwood · · Score: 2

      'Love' is a verb, by the way, unless you're referring to a concept that embodies the actions of 'love'. 'Love' is not an emotion.

      "To love" is a verb. "Love" is a noun.

      --
      Perhaps I'm trolling, perhaps I'm not.
    7. Re:Love? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't talk shit about my mai waifu.

    8. Re:Love? by NortySpock · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Um, that's not called love. You can call it eccentric, kinky, quirky ... even obsessive and crazy. But love? No, that's not love.

      Who are you to determine who or what someone else falls in love with? Sure, you may not be interested, but maybe you should leave determining what feelings are to the person who is experiencing them.

      What will you claim next? That homosexuals are not really in love? That their love is eccentric, kinky, quirky ... even obsessive and crazy? No? Then, by the same token, I say leave the robosexuals alone.

    9. Re:Love? by black+soap · · Score: 1

      "Verb" is a noun. Nouns get verbed all the time.

    10. Re:Love? by guybrush3pwood · · Score: 1

      Nouns get verbed all the time.

      True, but in the title of the summary ("The Science of Human-Robot Love"), "love" is a noun.

      --
      Perhaps I'm trolling, perhaps I'm not.
    11. Re:Love? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Like I said, 'love' is a verb *unless you're referring to a concept that embodies the actions of 'love'* - concepts ARE nouns.

      If you think you can define the word "love" as a noun in any respect beyond that, you're fooling yourself.

      When i say "I love you" there's a very simple subject-predicate-object structure in which the truth of the definition lies.

      You can say it's an emotion, but again, "you feel emotions" yields that same subject-predicate-object structure. Those feelings of emotion can be embodied in the CONCEPT of love. But love is never manifest as a physical object. Only it's corollaries are, by virtue of the act of loving.

    12. Re:Love? by gstoddart · · Score: 1

      Who are you to determine who or what someone else falls in love with? Sure, you may not be interested, but maybe you should leave determining what feelings are to the person who is experiencing them.

      Because something which is neither sentient nor capable of actual emotions ... well, that's essentially just a dildo. (And, no, don't tell me about how your first wife wasn't capable of emotions. ;-)

      I think if you're in "love" with the mechanical device you're humping, you likely have some serious social issues. I actually saw something on TV lately about some guys who claimed to be "in love" with his Real Doll -- that sounds like there is likely a clinical name for it. It's inanimate, get over it.

      What will you claim next? That homosexuals are not really in love? That their love is eccentric, kinky, quirky ... even obsessive and crazy? No? Then, by the same token, I say leave the robosexuals alone.

      Well, when they can pass a Turing test, I'll grant you the 'robosexuals' ... but until time it's deeper than falling in love with your refrigerator, I'm going to have to come down on the side of assuming that the described feelings can't really constitute "being in love".

      I think we're a few years away from any machine which would even come close to the threshold I'd need to take this seriously. On the other hand, if it's sentient, old enough to consent, and anatomically compatible ... run wild. Have a whole harem of blue space goats from P'Trax-4 if you want to and the space goats are on board with it.

      I actually find this article a little on the creepy side.

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    13. Re:Love? by MightyYar · · Score: 1

      People claim to love pets. Dogs, in particular, seem to have co-evolved (or been selected... semantics) with humans to "press our buttons". Just about any other living creature comes into the average American house, it gets stomped, poisoned, or trapped.

      So I guess it depends on how you define "love". I have no doubt that AI will progress to "dog" in my lifetime. It may or may not get to "human".

      --
      W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
    14. Re:Love? by AmonTheMetalhead · · Score: 1

      You're on slashdot, doesn't that qualify you?

    15. Re:Love? by AmonTheMetalhead · · Score: 1

      Don't forget about kittens!

    16. Re:Love? by IrquiM · · Score: 1

      First stage denial, second stage Slashdot, third stage... ?

      --
      This is blinging
    17. Re:Love? by QRDeNameland · · Score: 1

      First stage denial, second stage Slashdot, third stage... ?

      Third stage is Love Robot, obviously.

      --
      Momentarily, the need for the construction of new light will no longer exist.
    18. Re:Love? by wondafucka · · Score: 1

      Um, that's not called love. You can call it eccentric, kinky, quirky ... even obsessive and crazy. But love? No, that's not love.

      Love is just projection anyways. This seems to qualify.

    19. Re:Love? by RazorSharp · · Score: 1

      If only you were being sarcastic this comment would actually be funny.

      Personally, I've never considered love a one-sided affair. If it's one-sided then it's an infatuation, not love. The robot is incapable of love, therefore the feeling cannot be mutual, so love cannot exist between human and robot.

      btw, any argument that begins with 'who are you to determine. . .' is a bad one. The world isn't subjective. If you can't accept that fact then who are you to determine anything at all?

      --
      "From the depths of my skeptical and rationalist soul, I ask the Lord to protect me from California touchie-feeliedom."
    20. Re:Love? by RazorSharp · · Score: 1

      I agree with you but one small nitpick: what does it matter if a robot is old enough to consent?

      Also, I don't think passing the Turing test is enough. I think that's enough to trick someone to thinking they're in love, like in the case of a person who pretends to love another for the sake of using them, but with that level of dishonesty I wouldn't consider it true love because you're being lied to and what you think you love is actually something else. Regardless, I've always found the Turing test to be a poor metric for determining sentience. Not that I can think of a better way. That's a tough nut to crack.

      --
      "From the depths of my skeptical and rationalist soul, I ask the Lord to protect me from California touchie-feeliedom."
    21. Re:Love? by VortexCortex · · Score: 1

      I think if you're in "love" with the mechanical device you're humping, you likely have some serious social issues.

      I think if you're required to hump something to be in love with it you are in need of mental therapy.

      Clearly you are a heartless fool that has never had a relative or child or even a pet dog, cat, or chinchilla.

      I can tell you that I've loved my pets more than some girlfriends I've had, and I've certainly loved my nieces and nephews more than a lover. Love comes in many forms, and humans love many non sentient things.

      Are newborn babies unlovable because they're non-sentient? Are kittens or puppies? We've beginning to achieve complexity in AI neural networks that could be on par with that of a playful pet. Who are you to say that I'm a troubled individual for loving something with less intellect than I have? Clearly you have not thought your argument through -- Or you have been thinking purely with your sexual desires and confusing them with love (in which case I'll reiterate: seek therapy).

    22. Re:Love? by fyngyrz · · Score: 1

      Personally, I've never considered love a one-sided affair.

      Suppose you are in love, and your counterpart with you; and then they die. Does love evaporate instantly because the partner is gone? Of course not. That very much one-sided love will afflict what you do for quite some time, perhaps even the rest of your life, under those circumstances. And of course one can develop love for someone without that love being returned; love doesn't have to include a longer for a person, or even reciprocation: love can be many to one, one to many, one to one... families demonstrate this all the time, particularly with significantly different, troubled, or wayward offspring.

      Finally, your perception of love won't be the same as the next person's; it's very limiting to view others in the world as only behaving as you would. If you do that, people are going to constantly surprise you (and if they figure out that your worldview is so crippled, there are those who would probably take advantage of you as well.)

      --
      I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
    23. Re:Love? by RazorSharp · · Score: 1

      1. If a loved one dies them memory of the love remains. Of course you no longer love them, they aren't there to love. All you have are memories.

      2. Paternal/Maternal love is natural. Either the parent or child must do something horrible to one another to break that bond. And yes, I would argue that if one side breaks the bond it's broken. Love is shared.

      3. Finally, as I told the other guy, don't try bringing subjectivity into an argument. No, nothing is subjective but fancies. Not love, not art, not morality. All reality is objective. My opinions may be wrong, but they certainly aren't right in my mind, wrong in another's. If my perception of love differs from another's than one, or both of our perceptions is wrong. We can't disagree and both be right.

      --
      "From the depths of my skeptical and rationalist soul, I ask the Lord to protect me from California touchie-feeliedom."
    24. Re:Love? by fyngyrz · · Score: 1


      We can't disagree and both be right.

      Yes, certainly you can. On anything that is a matter of subjective interpretation and personal experience. That's a rather severe fault in your worldview. For instance, Joe may be enamored of redheads; while John only responds to brunettes. Larry doesn't even raise an eyebrow unless they're blond. Joe is a leg man, goes nuts for stockings and garters, lingerie and artful makeup. John despises makeup, considers it superficial and unnecessary, but responds negatively to the sight of women in traditional men's clothing such as pants, ties, bowler hats, etc. Yet Larry thinks a woman clothed only in a man's t-shirt -- preferably his -- is the epitome of sexiness. See? These three fellows disagree, yet they're all three quite right; they definitely know what they like. And just as a footnote... there is no particular reason why any of those likes must have any relationship to what you like, though they might, as all are very common outlooks, though very much mutually exclusive on various levels.

      What you're doing wrong here is trying to cast the world of human interaction in a black and white role of fact, event, outcome, and limit the list of valid FEO to those you personally have adopted as your worldview. Not trying to be mean here, but you're simply wrong. That's not how it works. That won't be how it works with robots, sexbots or roombas; nor is it how it works with a cat or a dog. I hope you figure that out sooner rather than later. Feel free to have the last word.

      --
      I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
    25. Re:Love? by Eponymous+Hero · · Score: 0

      fourth stage PROFIT!!

      --
      insensitive clod overlords obligatory xkcd car analogy russian reversals whoosh pedant fanbois ftfy in 3...2...1..PROFIT
    26. Re:Love? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If they don't get stomped, poisoned or trapped, it's because the man of the house has never seen kittens before and doesn't know that those cuddly puppy-like creatures will grow up into the obnoxious arrogant furballs known as cats. When they do, they'll get stomped, poisoned, or trapped, and the man will have learned a valuable lesson.

    27. Re:Love? by ArAgost · · Score: 1

      ...fourth stage: profit!

    28. Re:Love? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Emotions are a sacred human sacrament! This is blasphemy!

    29. Re:Love? by operagost · · Score: 1

      Neo: It's a... human emotion.
      Rama-Kandra: No, it is a word.

      What could better exemplify the unfeeling machine than unrelenting pedantry?

      --

      Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
    30. Re:Love? by operagost · · Score: 1
      English speakers are hamstrung by having essentially only one word for love, although we can usually get our point across with a few adjectives. The greeks have several:
      • Agape, which is slightly modified now to include romance but traditionally meant a deep, unselfish love reserved for one's spouse or children. In the Bible, it is used to describe the relationship with God.
      • Eros, a passionate love. "Romantic", "erotic".
      • Philia, "brotherly" love. This is compassion, felt through a sense of duty, honor, or to family outside of one's nuclear family.

      So what's robot love, anyway? Robophilia? Err.. Autoeros? Ok, I guess when you find yourself in a hole, you'd better stop digging.

      --

      Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
    31. Re:Love? by Eponymous+Hero · · Score: 1

      i'm gonna have to add that word to my sig list of slashdot memes. i love it when people just throw this word around every time they miss the point.

      --
      insensitive clod overlords obligatory xkcd car analogy russian reversals whoosh pedant fanbois ftfy in 3...2...1..PROFIT
  3. Oh no by jcoy42 · · Score: 2

    Don't tell me they're bringing back the furby..

    --
    Never trust an atom. They make up everything.
    1. Re:Oh no by retroworks · · Score: 2

      "Don't tell me they're bringing back the furby.." Actually, it's the Stepford Furby.

      --
      Gently reply
    2. Re:Oh no by Krishnoid · · Score: 1

      We can only hope, both for good and evil (but vastly entertaining) purposes.

  4. I AM DILDOTRON by GameboyRMH · · Score: 4, Funny

    I AM HERE FOR THE PLEASURE EXPERIMENT MADAM. Please ignore my cardboard body, I am merely a prototype.

    --
    "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
  5. Robosexuality is a sin! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny
  6. But can I.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    F$*& it?!

  7. If the robot can love by ezesolares · · Score: 1

    It can hate too!! i bet that little robot is gonna murder his owner in his/her sleep if she/he doesnt pay attention.

    1. Re:If the robot can love by mattack2 · · Score: 1

      Bite my shiny metal ass.

  8. So? by lmcgeoch · · Score: 1

    I love my scuba when it cleans the kitchen floor, bathroom floor, etc...

  9. It's all been done. by Divide+By+Zero · · Score: 2
    --
    Dare to Hope. Prepare to be Disappointed.
  10. Only a New Generation of Neo-Pet. A Neo-Neo-Pet. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    What is this neuro-babble? They misspelled Serotonin in the video, they mention Endorphin in that list as if it's a single compound and not an entire class of neurotransmitters, and they think that specific mixes of these chemicals can elicit exact feelings and emotions. "Well Jim, this human has a 1:3:2.8:6 ratio of Oxytocin, Dopamine, Secrotonin [sic], and Endorphin, it must clearly be Tired." I really don't expect there to be even an outline of an algorithm for a current personality based on hormone level since there haven't been concrete neuronal correlates of applying hormones to specific parts of the brain (since they're transmitted through the bloodstream and therefore are whole-body modifiers, making that stupid brain scan animation moot). Why not just call this a Furbie with a different casing? Unless they can show me the underlying algorithm of how the robot decides its emotions, then I can't put it past a simple Tomagotchi program.

  11. Cherry 2000 by GodfatherofSoul · · Score: 1

    Until scientists create a hot sex bot we can fsck, all other steps towards this ultimate goal are of no consequence.

    --
    I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
    1. Re:Cherry 2000 by black+soap · · Score: 2

      We don't want love robots, we want lust robots. Love is what we have time to work on, when our lust is sated.

    2. Re:Cherry 2000 by gknoy · · Score: 1

      Wouldn't you rather have one with a working filesystem?

    3. Re:Cherry 2000 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Until scientists create a hot sex bot we can fsck, all other steps towards this ultimate goal are of no consequence.

      I can already fsck my linux rig...

  12. Robosexuals? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What's next? GAY Robosexuals? :-D

    http://futurama.wikia.com/wiki/Proposition_Infinity

  13. ...or not. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So you've created a device capable of displaying a behavior in response to a pre-programmed set of stimuli... and you're calling that "love". Isn't it more likely that the unit is simply displaying a signal that the human is supposed to *interpret* as love, so that the unit can be properly anthropormorphized? In reality, you've created an emotional masturbatory toy. I'm sure this will be a big deal to those who think that the real thing is just "too hard" to do.

    1. Re:...or not. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So you've created a device capable of displaying a behavior in response to a pre-programmed set of stimuli... and you're calling that "love".

      The same could be said about us, we just have more variables. Stop thinking you're anything other than a fleshy machine. Your feelings and actions are not magical or divine, nor are you. It's all a matter of buttons being pushed and an output created, just in a complex manner.

    2. Re:...or not. by cheekyjohnson · · Score: 1

      But... humans are special! That is my opinion (which therefore makes it a fact).

      --
      Filthy, filthy copyrapists!
  14. So trying to build a better sex 'bot by bryan1945 · · Score: 1

    Guy must be lonely.

    --
    Vote monkeys into Congress. They are cheaper and more trustworthy.
  15. Oblig Futurama by efudddd · · Score: 1

    "Oh, Fry, I love you more than the moon, the stars, the..."
    [monotone] "POETIC IMAGE #36 NOT FOUND."

  16. It's Sinful! by Denogh · · Score: 1

    I wonder which U.S. State will be the first to legalize Robosexual Marriage.

    1. Re:It's Sinful! by Denogh · · Score: 1

      Curses! Somebody beat me to it.

    2. Re:It's Sinful! by martinux · · Score: 0

      As far as I'm aware our omnipotent god didn't have the imagination to cover robotic sexuality and love in any of his good books.

      The various mainstream christian and islamic groups of the world will probably stick to the decree that marriage requires one man and one woman.

    3. Re:It's Sinful! by fyngyrz · · Score: 1

      My plan is just to live together in tin.

      --
      I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
    4. Re:It's Sinful! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Imagine the day when the robot nature of the bride or groom is difficult of determine by looking and reproductive functions made with the help of an artificial womb and an egg cell factory, with the robot partner providing the code for transformations of genetic material with the help of a sequencer. Similarly, the human partners characteristics is extracted to manufacture a robot child who inherits the transformation codes of the robot parent. Marriage, deconstructed.

  17. How long until we prefer a machine? by scorp1us · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Al joking aside about "robot girlfriends", an untiring, on-demand machine will become ideal. You only need to fill it with lube occasionally. It'll never object, it'll never come home drunk. It'll never interrupt your xbox time. It'll never reject you because you got fat or wrinkly. It'll make hedonists of today look silly having to deal with another human being and their schedule.

    And that will be the end... when we stay home because we prefer a machine. We'll give up on loving our own kind not because it is superior, but just because it is less "work".

    --
    Slashdot's rate-of-post filter: Preventing you from posting too many great ideas at once.
    1. Re:How long until we prefer a machine? by TigerPlish · · Score: 2

      And that will be the end... when we stay home because we prefer a machine. We'll give up on loving our own kind not because it is superior, but just because it is less "work".

      That's part of the setup of CLAMP's "Chobits" comic and anime. There was this side-story of Chi finding this series of children's books -- dealing with exactly that -- people had stopped hanging out with people, preferring the PersoCom bots.. droids.. whatever Chi and her kind are.

      --
      The "Civilized World" jumped the shark ca. 1973.
    2. Re:How long until we prefer a machine? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      It'll never object, it'll never come home drunk. It'll never interrupt your xbox time. It'll never reject you because you got fat or wrinkly. It'll make hedonists of today look silly having to deal with another human being and their schedule.

      2 things:

      1. Dude, you got sudoed from your xbox by a drunk chic?

      2. Yes, actually it WILL interrupt your xbox-time. Get used to playing analog games again 'cos this one wont have you looking at the competition.

    3. Re:How long until we prefer a machine? by RsG · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Eh, depends on the person. Maybe if we're really lucky, we'll filter the most selfish and superficial humans from the gene pool within a few short generations. Let the androids and gynoids fuck em so the rest of us can get on with life.

      Of course, that does bring up the interesting question of what happens when they build a droid that's fully human, mentally speaking. At that point "sexbot" becomes a degradation, since instead of making an animatronic realdoll or dildo with legs you're instead making what is essentially an unwilling slave, with all the violation of basic rights that entails. In which case, if someone does build a "robot girlfriend" with the capacity to leave and be her own person (i.e. not a slave), does there still exist a difference between robot and human relationships?

      --
      Erotic is when you use a feather. Exotic is when you use the whole chicken.
    4. Re:How long until we prefer a machine? by DemonGenius · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I honestly think if something like this becomes mainstream for too long, we will have trained all the empathy out of ourselves. If our primary emotional interaction unconditionally obeys our every whim, it is inevitable that we will expect the same from our flesh and bone counterparts. Since it will be easier to love a machine than a human being, it is not absurd to assume that we may value human life less. The fact that we are exploring human-robot love is a symptom of a much larger problem in that human empathy is decreasing all around. We can see it everywhere nowadays, all we have to do is compare current society to the same 30 years ago, but from a more local POV.

      I think more studies should be put into figuring out who we all are as individuals, what types of people exist from a psychological stand point (e.g. introverts vs extroverts, highly sensitive vs low empathetic persons, sane vs insane), how all these different types of people can interact in a more efficient manner, and how to best match people in different settings to reduce unrest. We also need to get rid of ridiculously fabricated categorizations of people (e.g. race, royalty, etc) since the prevalence of psychological traits have similar distribution in most of these situations.

    5. Re:How long until we prefer a machine? by carpenoctem63141 · · Score: 1

      I hear they have these things called vibrators and fleshlights. Apparently some crazy people still prefer human contact. Besides, if it ever gets to that point, we'll all be cyborgs anyway, so we'll still be loving our own kind.

    6. Re:How long until we prefer a machine? by cheekyjohnson · · Score: 1

      Of course, that does bring up the interesting question of what happens when they build a droid that's fully human, mentally speaking. At that point "sexbot" becomes a degradation, since instead of making an animatronic realdoll or dildo with legs you're instead making what is essentially an unwilling slave, with all the violation of basic rights that entails.

      Slave or not, that doesn't make the "relationship" any less real if the AI is programmed well enough. If it truly believes that it enjoys it (because it was programmed that way), then it probably won't matter.

      --
      Filthy, filthy copyrapists!
    7. Re:How long until we prefer a machine? by RsG · · Score: 1

      Then it isn't "fully human, mentally speaking". It could be sapient, could even be smarter than mere people. Still pretty far removed from the mind of one of our species.

      I suspect the approach you're talking about - keep the AIs under control by making them not want freedom - will be a viable method, I'm just not sure a piece of software could really be self-aware, or humanlike, and accept slavery. And if you did make a fully humanlike AI and control it by way of, say, curtailing certain brain functions or making obedience pleasurable, then ethically, it's still a slave, just as a lobotomized and doped human is.

      (Now, a purely inhuman AI would have plenty of uses I can think of. "Sexbot" isn't one of them. There's got to be something like the uncanny valley for minds as well as bodies, and who wants to fuck a toaster?)

      --
      Erotic is when you use a feather. Exotic is when you use the whole chicken.
    8. Re:How long until we prefer a machine? by cheekyjohnson · · Score: 1

      I'm just not sure a piece of software could really be self-aware, or humanlike, and accept slavery.

      It could fully be aware that it was programmed that way but still not care. Yes, in that sense, it probably wouldn't be "human," but I don't think it would matter in the end.

      then ethically, it's still a slave

      According to whose ethics? If it was created this way from the very beginning and enjoys what it does, then I don't see how it could be considered a "slave," despite the intention of its creator(s). Of course, if they are legally considered your property rather than them just being programmed to want to be, then you could, by definition, call them a slave.

      Now, a purely inhuman AI would have plenty of uses I can think of.

      We could replace most (if not all) human workers with intelligent AI.

      --
      Filthy, filthy copyrapists!
    9. Re:How long until we prefer a machine? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We'll give up on loving our own kind not because it is superior, but just because it is less "work".

      No, I'm pretty sure it's gonna be superior, too.

    10. Re:How long until we prefer a machine? by Andtalath · · Score: 1

      Why would freedom be a necessity in an intelligent mind?
      If it's possible to program what stimulates it's pleasure, it's entirely possible to make it feel bliss to perform the most vile and repulsive acts you can think off.

      Without human inhibitions, all becomes possible.

    11. Re:How long until we prefer a machine? by RivenAleem · · Score: 1

      In two months, I get married. I'll keep you posted.

    12. Re:How long until we prefer a machine? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't think they should be aiming for "robot" girlfriends but "cyborg" girlfriends.

      The bodies would be whatever the best artificial flesh modern science could come up with.

      The brains would be a combination of computer circuits and animal neurons, likely from some relatively intelligent and trainable mammal. (I'm thinking dogs brains would work). The computer circuits would allow it to make some sort of rudimentary conversation, with the cultured animal neurons giving it a glimmer of intelligence.

    13. Re:How long until we prefer a machine? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nope. Selfishness is what drives people to procreate. Therefore, the ones wiped out will be the "nice" faction. And really, a fully functional android - sexbot, cleanbot, cookbot, affectionbot, conversebot - I'd take that over any human.

    14. Re:How long until we prefer a machine? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      -10 years.

    15. Re:How long until we prefer a machine? by nurb432 · · Score: 1

      violation of basic rights that entails.

      Since when does a non-sentient *machine* have rights?

      --
      ---- Booth was a patriot ----
  18. The Three Laws of Lovotics by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1
    1. Don't stick your SIM card in crazy.
    2. If you love something, release its source code.
    3. If you can't download what you love, love what you've downloaded.
  19. Re:Only a New Generation of Neo-Pet. A Neo-Neo-Pet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    It is a complex Tamagochi program. As are we, just yet a little more complex. Whether or not the complexity is the same as human emotion is not what decides whether or not something is an emotion in and of itself. In fact, you have human beings with varying emotional capabilities as well, so where do you set the bottom line for what is and what isn't called an emotion?

  20. Where's my Lucy Liu-bot? by sconeu · · Score: 1

    I want my Lucy Liu-bot!!

    --
    General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
    1. Re:Where's my Lucy Liu-bot? by black+soap · · Score: 1

      I'd settle for the Marilyn Mon-Robot.

    2. Re:Where's my Lucy Liu-bot? by Apocryphos · · Score: 1

      that wouldn't be settling - it would be upgrading

    3. Re:Where's my Lucy Liu-bot? by black+soap · · Score: 1

      Settling up is still settling. I'd be happy.

  21. Yes, yes by amliebsch · · Score: 1

    But how many BULLETS does it hold? If it can't lovingly defend my baby with a rain of lead, I'll kick its ass!

    --
    If you don't know where you are going, you will wind up somewhere else.
    1. Re:Yes, yes by ifrag · · Score: 1

      For any not familiar with this reference: Aperture Investment Opportunity - Turrets

      --
      Fear is the mind killer.
  22. Correction by Lew+Perin · · Score: 1

    The name is Human Samani.

    --
    Sorry, I forgot there are ads on the Web; I use Lynx.
  23. Well, this will work well by Starfleet+Command · · Score: 1

    when connected into the "brain" of one of those hyper realistic Japanese love robots. We can call them Cybernetic Love Nodes, or CYLONS for short. oh...wait

  24. Let's work on AI first by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Let's work on artificial intelligence before we start in on artificial emotion. We already have way more naturally occurring emotion vs intelligence as it is.

  25. Wait a minute... by doubleplusungodly · · Score: 1

    How is there an article about robots and robot love without any mention of Japan in it?

    --
    ---
  26. I once saw a documentrary on this by Bob+the+Super+Hamste · · Score: 1

    I once saw a documentary on this. The strangest thing was that it was done in as a cartoon and had as one of the main charters an alcoholic robot named Bender.

    --
    Time to offend someone
  27. careful by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    this is a big step towards robots manipulating human emotions. just sayin

  28. The end result by Bob+the+Super+Hamste · · Score: 3, Funny

    We all know what the end result of this will be:
    Obligatory XKCD

    --
    Time to offend someone
    1. Re:The end result by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Man's extinction was not unpleasant. Human beings merely preferred to copulate with
      robots specifically designed for the task than to procreate with other flawed humans."

      http://www.bohemiandrive.com/comics/npwil/2.html

    2. Re:The end result by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's a great link and all, but slashdot is so broke I can't left, right nor middle-click it to do anything effective. Anyone else having this problem?

    3. Re:The end result by maxwell+demon · · Score: 1

      That's a great link and all, but slashdot is so broke I can't left, right nor middle-click it to do anything effective. Anyone else having this problem?

      For me, only left and middle click is broken.

      --
      The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
    4. Re:The end result by TeknoHog · · Score: 1

      How quaint, a time when "android" meant a humanlike robot.

      --
      Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.
    5. Re:The end result by manwargi · · Score: 1

      Yes, but mashing right-click seems to eventually make something happen.

    6. Re:The end result by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A double right-click works.

  29. Re-inventing the (sexy) wheel... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Anyone remember Julie Newmar as "Rhoda the Robot"?
    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057774/
    and
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Living_Doll

  30. The Realistic Married-Bot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    At Sirius Cybernetics Corporation, realism is our goal! Our newest Married-Bot is designed to emulate the feeling of matrimonial bliss. Guaranteed that within two years of purchase it will put on at least 40 lbs, drink beer every night and fall asleep in front of the TV. It will make a mess and not clean up after itself. It will always pretend to listen to you and never know what you just said. It will leave the toilet seat up, fart in bed and play video games for hours. Within 5 years it will have an affair with your best friend or the young girl at the coffee shop.

  31. I already know it's coming. by aurashift · · Score: 1

    I can't wait to be rejected by one of these things!

  32. Oblig xkcd by khasim · · Score: 1

    Yeah, yeah. So it was parody week. It still counts!
    http://xkcd.com/144/

  33. how many men won't have a choice? by AndroSyn · · Score: 1

    And that will be the end... when we stay home because we prefer a machine. We'll give up on loving our own kind not because it is superior, but just because it is less "work".

    How many men in the world will *need* a robot girlfriend, given the skewing of the male/female birth ratios towards boys. Too many men, not enough women...that doesn't bode well for social stability. Perhaps some sex bots can fill the gap...so to speak.

    1. Re:how many men won't have a choice? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Pshaw, nobody needs robot girlfriends. Birth rates haven't historically been skewed as male as they are today, thanks to selective abortion, but there were other factors (e.g. widely accepted polygamy) to make up for it. The young men go off to war, some of them don't make it back, and voila, enough wives to go 'round.

      How in hell are you going to get your subjects to march to a sure death for you when they've all got a steady girlfriend (robot or otherwise) at home? Maybe a few literal die-hard idealogues, and surely enough to repel an invasion, but nothing like the force need to for a crushing blow in some other country.

  34. Our species will still breed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Women will still want to have and raise kids for the sense of significance it gives them. Some men will too, for that matter. And that only works if the babies are real.

    And even if that didn't work, the government would just start offering incentives and state-run boarding schools and such to keep the population growing.

    Life will find a way.

  35. Its an artificial pussy! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ummmm - I meant a CAT.

  36. A Love Spehere, Why not a Cube? by jameskojiro · · Score: 1

    You could call it something like a partner square or friendship block or or.......

    --
    Tsukasa: All I really want, is to be left alone...
    1. Re:A Love Spehere, Why not a Cube? by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      Not worth the emotional attachment, you're just going to incinerate it anyway.

    2. Re:A Love Spehere, Why not a Cube? by GameboyRMH · · Score: 1

      In Portal 2 if you escape the room in the beginning before it starts moving, there's a platform with a Companion Cube with one of the emblem caps removed...not sure how they slipped that past the censors...

      --
      "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
    3. Re:A Love Spehere, Why not a Cube? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A companion cube, perhaps?!

  37. Amusing by squidflakes · · Score: 1

    The first name of a researcher who does work on robots is Hooman. Daft Punk would be proud.

  38. Finally!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    By the power of lovotics! I could have a girlfriend!

    1. Re:Finally!! by fyngyrz · · Score: 1

      In fact, you could have a whole harem, if you'd like a little variety.

      --
      I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
    2. Re:Finally!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But that would flatten the sweet scent of desperation.

    3. Re:Finally!! by fyngyrz · · Score: 1

      Would it? I don't think that's a given... I think it would entirely depend upon the programming.

      The whole point here -- at least in my mind -- is that you can have what you want, rather than what some random person decides is an adequate response. So if what you want is "hard to get", you can certainly have it. If what you want is a whipping coupled with cigar burns on your ass, you should be able to have that, too. etc. Ad infinitum. Until (unless) true AI is involved, this should strictly be a matter of adding features, just like adding buttons or knobs to a stereo.

      --
      I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
  39. love shmove by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Can you fuck it?

  40. Song by ELO... by Sam+Nitzberg · · Score: 1

    ELO Did a song similar to this....
    "Yours Truly 2095"

  41. Obligatory Star Trek:TNG by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Data: "I'm fully functional and programmed in multiple techniques"

  42. IMPORTANT by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I really hope these lovebots have the Three laws programmed in!
          1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
          2. A robot must obey any orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
          3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

    1. Re:IMPORTANT by GameboyRMH · · Score: 1

      The S&M crowd would be disappointed...

      --
      "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
  43. Awesome! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Do they come in brown-orange?

    I wanna know where I can order my lovable tribble....

  44. We really shouldn't do this. by SheridanR · · Score: 1

    I don't know about the rest of you, but I don't want my computer to give me a low squeal and a dose of the puppy eyes whenever I turn it off.

  45. Why? by notsofast · · Score: 1

    It will just lead to betrayal.

  46. Anime future by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Chobits!

  47. My cat... by fyngyrz · · Score: 2

    ...has been able to demonstrate engineering human -> non-human love since, oh lemme see, maybe the first 30 seconds I met her.

    Of course humans will love robots that treat them accordingly while enhancing their quality of life. We've already seen outliers in love with their RealDolls; there, most of the interaction is being provided by the human, but mark my words, the net result will be the same.

    When they finally manage to build a nominally acceptable sexbot, you'll see this all over -- because said sexbot will have to have those characteristics anyway.

    It would probably take longer if people were nicer to one another and the whole population had access to a reasonable amount of affection and physical contact... because there'd be more competition for them; but you know what? People are really not very kind overall, and our laws, particularly WRT sex workers, are still pretty much in the dark ages.

    --
    I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
    1. Re:My cat... by rbrausse · · Score: 1

      your argument is valid and I couldn't agree more - but you should add the comment to this thread

    2. Re:My cat... by orkysoft · · Score: 1

      This interactive pet rock might be useful for treatment of emotionally problematic people. People you wouldn't necessarily trust with a cat.

      If the patient messes up with the robot, you can just reset its emotional state, and try again. A real pet could be dead or traumatized.

      --

      I suffer from attention surplus disorder.
  48. I'm moving to Singapore... by SwedishChef · · Score: 1

    Apparently the girls there will fall in love with anything!

    --
    No one ever had to evacuate a city because the solar panels broke!
  49. Forget the machine, look @ the girl! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I don't care about a robot loving me or not, unless it looks like the girl above.

  50. robotic rejection? I'll pass... by Nyder · · Score: 1

    I can accept not having relations with humans (females, in case you were wondering), but getting the "cold shoulder" from a robot? Sorry, that is more then I can take.

    --
    Be seeing you...
  51. Okay, samzenpus ... by kgeiger · · Score: 1

    why isn't the tag line "from the more human than human" dept.?

    --
    Vision with execution is hallucination.
  52. Love is a byproduct by Andtalath · · Score: 1

    I love my fiancee, but, I still acknowledge that our emotional responses to each other is a genetic byproduct of the necessity of mating being necessary for our long-time survival.

    What lovebots (not sexbots) do is remove the need for very many of the unneccesary biological functions which complicate life to such a huge extent.

    Reproduction will surely not be an issue, an artifical womb wouldn't be that hard and using genetic combinations could easily create children this far into the future.

    And, yes, to create a good lovebot you would need a whole lot more knowledge about how the human body works than is available today.
    But, once we fully understand attraction and the chemicals involved, a lovebot could easily keep you fully in love at all times, it could also sexually stimulate you in ways which are so far beyond normal sex that it's not even comparable.

    Also, remember, an advantage with a bot is the flexibility, there's nothing to say that these bots couldn't also work in normal relationships as well, once you start to break down love and pleasure, it's really just a recretaional activity that's just awesomely better than most other forms to most people.
    Having a human companion in your life and having sex-toys and emotional attachments is fully normal today, this wouldn't be much different.

    The biggest difference would be that you wouldn't have to find a perfect partner to be fully satisfied, the shortcomings can be replaced by a robot.

  53. I cant wait by hesaigo999ca · · Score: 1

    I cant wait to be able to get a robot that looks like Rosie Huntington, and then start wining her and dining her....and maybe even sit down near a fire with her, and start leaning in, and tell her how much i love her 1s and 0s....

  54. This roung thing rolling on the floor.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    reminds me of robot 790.