The Future of AI Sex Robots.

We were recently asked or views on the AI sex robot industry and to what extent are we involved? The Daily star has started to publish various sections of our interview, you can see the article here Silicone Lovers Sex Robot Interview, or read the full interview below.

What kind of unique experience do your sex dolls offer? 

Each doll offers a unique experience entirely as they are fully customisable. From the head to the toenails, to body shape, vagina style and hairstyle, freckles and tattoos, everything on our dolls can be completely personalised to suit individual tastes. Customers can create a unique doll completely from scratch or work with the hundreds of faces and body types we have available to customise. We offer some rather unusual dolls that might not be everyone’s cup of tea, from blue alien dolls, three-breasted dolls, fantasy dwarves and elves, dolls with penetrable nipples, and even what’s known as a FUTANARI doll which is a hermaphrodite. We are currently in the process of designing some Sci-Fi inspired models which we hope to be introducing in 2020. As every doll we make is unique, they all offer their own unique experience depending on the customer’s taste – it’s really only limited by your imagination and your wallet if you want something truly weird and wonderful.

Are they simply sex dolls, or do any incorporate technology, including talking, movement and any other kind of AI? Are any of your dolls considered to be sex robots?

Our current dolls have various options that incorporate technology, like heating elements or wireless touch sensors that activate moans of pleasure. We have recently partnered with an AI Tech company based in Shenzhen, which is the world’s hotbed for technology right now. China's government is heavily backing many of these AI companies, estimating it will be worth 1 trillion yuan ($146 billion) to the country by 2030. We’re learning more about their robotics and AI and plan to introduce some higher-tech models to our range in 2020. We also plan to work with another love doll manufacturer who are also leading the pack in the robotics department with workshops that look like something out of WESTWORLD. Both companies have a focus on hyperrealism, AI and actual robotic movement. They have voice recognition, eye and neck movement, mouths that sync with speaking, built-in sensors to react to touch, internal heating and a fully articulated skeleton which can stand. They can also carry on a basic conversation with you and are equipped with AI learning technology to improve and remember conversations.  Most of our customers are still on the fence when it comes to AI in its current form. They are very curious and interested in the advances, but most are holding out until it really improves. In a way, it can be more magical to fantasise and give your doll its own voice rather than one created in a robotic accent that says things other people have initially programmed.

Do you plan on one day upgrading your sex dolls with this kind of technology?

Yes absolutely. It might not be “upgrading” as such, but more likely that completely new models would be released as technology improves. For example, at the moment, a newly upgraded skeleton will be released so then all the future dolls from that brand will either be made with a lighter, more flexible skeleton or it will at least be available as an upgrade. There certainly could also be ways of upgrading older models in the future by incorporating computer chips and perhaps sound capability with a little “plastic surgery”. You would be amazed at some of the modifications and repairs that people do. The Doll Forum has a dedicated forum called “Inventors Corner” which is a den of ideas and creations reminiscent of “Weird Science”. Sure, it’s a little geeky to some but really, it’s incredibly creative and who knows some of these people may end up working for big companies in the future – there are already quite a few making money off their inventions and some have even patented their ideas. 

What kind of consumer trends have you noticed recently?

There has definitely been a demand and trend toward lighter, more flexible skeletons as far as fabrications goes. This year we’ve seen a boom in Hybrid Dolls which is a combination of TPE (Thermoplastic elastomer) bodies with hyper-realistic silicone heads. This is partly because people love the hyper-realism of silicone, but it tends to be more expensive and harder material. If you couple a TPE body which is softer and cheaper, with a super realistic silicone head, you can create the best of both worlds.

Fantasy skin tone colours are also a big trend on the rise along with freckles and implanted human hair. Taller dolls and male dolls, in general, have seen an increase in popularity.

How far away do you believe sex robots are from being unrecognisable from humans? 

In terms of “looks”, I think we’re already there with some of the newer designs. To the uninitiated, it’s quite easy to mistake the dolls for humans, especially compared to the old school inflatable dolls. We’ve reached that point where we’ve passed the “uncanny valley” syndrome and dolls actually do look like real people, both male and female. Many of the high end, hyper-realistic silicone love dolls on the market have veins, wrinkles freckles, blood capillaries in their eyeballs, fine hairs on their body, implanted human hair on their head and so on…

As technology is becoming more advanced, so are our doll designs, one simple example is some dolls are now being created with 3D body scanners of humans rather than being traditionally sculpted in clay.  

In terms of the dolls having fully autonomous robotics, and physical movements that convincingly replicate humans, I’m not sure the technology is quite there yet. No matter how realistic they look, as soon as you see their mouths move, it can be rather awkward, and you can tell straight away that they’re humanoids. That’s when they drop sharply into “uncanny valley” territory so I think we have quite a way to go before we are seeing robots that are completely indiscernible from humans. It may well be many decades not years as many wish. 

The “problem” for sex robots is that the more advanced robotic companies all have a focus that is not sexual at all.  It’s more focused on creating technologies for industries to improve agriculture, medical, military etc. These have huge investment in the R&D and are way more focused on achieving complex physical tasks for other businesses and corporations as opposed to consumer robotics or making the robots that look like humans. We haven’t really seen much in the way of getting these kinds of robots to look sexy or be “good in bed”, so at this stage, I would say the focus is skewed more heavily on helping humanity carry out tasks or replacing the human labour force with robots- as opposed to making robots that can perform amazing sexual feats.

There is certainly a race going on to see who gets there first, but there’s a definite divide between robotics that are created for commercial benefits and those that are created as companions or sex dolls.

For example, Boston Robotics creates robots (like Atlas) who can do incredible parkour-style gymnastics and unbelievable human-like tasks and movements, but they look like robots. Then we have sex doll manufacturers like Gynoid, who create hyper-realistic silicone sex dolls, that look extremely lifelike, but they certainly can’t do gymnastics. It would be incredible to see companies like these join forces…

Do you believe there will be consequences, or positives if we get to this stage?

I guess while we would love to see fully automated sex dolls hit the shelves and be available domestically at an affordable price soon, that also means that someone would be capable of creating an entire army of robots that can be completely controlled for good or evil which is kind of scary. Maybe it’s best we keep the humanoid replicas to fantasy for the time being? We don’t want to accidentally re-create some end game terminator scenario…so there better be some good laws in place!

If or when we are so advanced that you really cannot tell the difference between a robot and a human, there would definitely be ethical and legal issues involved in governing their use. We imagine it could become heavily regulated and perhaps you may need a special sex robot licence to make sure you’re not getting up to anything too mischievous…  

Do you believe customers will one day turn to sex robots instead of humans?

It’s too late for that! It’s already happening, at least it is with sex dolls, and there’s no turning back!