The mid to long term future will likely see humanity living in a world (or worlds for that matter) where AI and robotics have made tremendous strides and will increasingly be part of our daily lives. This could be through direct robotics (the creation of robots that assist with day-to-day work like what we’ve seen discussed in some articles already here), through intelligent software, and through cybernetics. A lot of the discussions in the media and online are about whether there will be any jobs left or if the robots will kill off a useless humanity. How all of this will impact our sex lives is a question I don’t hear asked often.
Robots and cyborgs (technologically enhanced humans) will allow humans to explore newer, more enhanced forms of carnal pleasure. One could, essentially, engineer an optimal orgasm, or trigger a specific level of pain (if that is one’s thing). Not to mention, the ability to provide arousal and orgasm via direct brain interactively is not impossible. The question I have is how will this impact our sexual relationships? Right now, human sexual relationships must negotiate a plethora of different obstacles: differing libidos, various fantasies, performance anxiety, etc… The only alternatives now are prostitution and masturbation. If those are no longer needed because one can have a robot slave, or if one can always perform perfectly with one’s partner because of cybernetic enhancements, will sex be as interesting or worthwhile to humans in the future?
We will, of course, have the urge to reproduce still (although biotechnology may even make that more streamlined in the future), but will we focus as much on as sex then as we do now if we can, at will, summon the perfect prurient experience? Additionally, if humans become increasingly cybernetic, will new sexual organs or mechanism replace our genitalia as the primary tool for arousal and pleasure?
I am not trying to sound some sort of alarm; indeed, I think it will be excellent for humanity to control its own evolution; changes to sexuality will also be part of that, and those changes will have a significant impact on our day-to-day lives. New experiences and fetishes will become available to people, robots will available for experimentation or to live out specific fantasies, and partners will be able to, with extreme precision, provide pleasure to each other.
What I am interested in is speculation from others. What do you think will change about sexuality? Will the changes be fundamentally superficial or will the very essence of sexuality change?