Virtual reality and the future of intimacy.
The pros and cons of tech turned intimate.
The more our technology advances, the more it earns a place of intimacy in the lives of humans. Your phone shows you ads for the things you want before you know you want them, AI assistants can answer almost any question you ask aloud in your living room, and for many singles, the prospect of finding love in our current world seems just about impossible without the help of an app or two. This progression makes it seem natural that one day, our devices might make us experience intimacy itself in a whole new way—and what happens to sex then?
By pop culture alone, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that people have some anxieties about tech (robots, AI, machine-learning devices, etc.) getting involved with them either sexually or romantically. Just see movies like Her, shows like Westworld, and countless others for evidence of a not-so-optimistic viewpoint. But the future of sex is already here—and it might not be quite as alienating as some have thought.
Virtual reality, AI, connected devices, and increasingly sophisticated sex tech have made intimate experiences more immersive and accessible than ever. VR porn is now widely available, while connected sex toys can be controlled remotely, allowing partners to interact across distances. AI has also entered the conversation, from chatbots designed to simulate companionship to increasingly personalized technologies that blur the line between digital interaction and intimacy.
The debate over how technology affects relationships is a long and complex one, but one concern in particular is how it creates “artificial intimacy,” as evolutionary biologist Rob Brooks explored in his book Artificial Intimacy. Sex robots, AI-enhanced sex toys, virtual reality, and AI companions can all have this effect. Some worry that a growing dependence on artificial intimacy could lead some people to eschew real human connection—leading to isolation and loneliness. But there’s also a flip side: For people struggling to find a connection, these more tech-forward forms of intimacy could potentially provide a kind of satisfaction that traditional solo experiences don’t. The trouble is that when technology advances as rapidly as it has, it’s impossible to gauge what its long-term human and emotional effects could be.
And then there’s perhaps the biggest problem that comes along with technology: privacy. Increased dependence on machines can lead to exploitation and manipulation. That could mean personal data has the potential to be stolen, intimate conversations could be exposed, or a company could use what it learns about someone’s desires and behavior to influence their decisions. Just look at the impact that social media alone has on human decision-making—and then factor in how feelings of perceived intimacy could shift things even further.
VR sex, AI companions, and sex robots are far from our new normal, yet they are growing more and more accessible. There are plenty of roadblocks, though, from privacy concerns and questions around consent to the simple question of whether technology can ever replicate the feeling of human connection. So, as “artificial intimacies” become easier to build, there are plenty of pros and cons for people to mull over. Tech doesn’t have to evoke pop culture’s most anxiety-inducing sci-fi films, but its role in intimacy is becoming increasingly real—and could prove to be truly transformative.
