Future of Sex
tagline
  • Remote Sex
  • Virtual Sex & Entertainment
  • Robots
  • Human Augmentation
  • Sex Tech
  • Dating & Relationships
  • Bizarre Bazaar 18+
  • Future of Sex Community
  • Remote Sex
  • Virtual Sex & Entertainment
  • Robots
  • Human Augmentation
  • Sex Tech
  • Dating & Relationships
  • Bizarre Bazaar 18+
  • Future of Sex Community
  • Sex Tech Hackers Will Get ‘Touchy-Feely’ at Virtual Event This Weekend

  • How Learning from 2020 Can Give Us Sexier, Healthier Sex Lives in 2021

  • Designers Unveil Wildly Creative Fashions for Pandemic Living

  • This Stroker Gives Female-like Orgasms to Trans People and Men

  • Lora DiCarlo Responds to WOW Tech Group’s ‘Pleasure Air Technology’ Patent Claims

  • Sex Tech in 2021: What Industry Leaders Expect in the Year Ahead

  • VDOM’s ‘Cyber Penis’ Evolves Wearable Sex Tech for All Genders

  • When Will Male Sex Toys Go Mainstream?

Future of Sex is supported by our readers. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Home > Dating & Relationships > Futurist Ross Dawson on Sexbot Sex Educators, Virtual Dating, and the Risks and Rewards of Sex Tech

Dating & RelationshipsSex Tech
Home›Dating & Relationships›Futurist Ross Dawson on Sexbot Sex Educators, Virtual Dating, and the Risks and Rewards of Sex Tech

Futurist Ross Dawson on Sexbot Sex Educators, Virtual Dating, and the Risks and Rewards of Sex Tech

By M. Christian
June 26, 2020
1065
1

Be aware of the promise and peril of technology on sexuality, says Future of Sex publisher.

The Good, The Bad and The Orwellian Large Banner

The potential of technology to augment sexual expression is too important to ignore, FutureofSex.net publisher Ross Dawson told Peter McCormack on his podcast Defiance.

In the episode called The Future of Technology: The Good, The Bad & The Orwellian, McCormack focused on the silver linings of the COVID-19 pandemic and how certain changes it's ushered in may improve our lives.

For example, telecommuting as well as eating and living better during the lockdown.

Meanwhile, on the worse side of things, McCormack painted a dark picture:

The old adage ‘never let a good crisis go to waste' has undoubtedly been true of this pandemic. Governments around the world are overreaching and implementing surveillance that they will likely be reluctant to relinquish, and the post-coronavirus world may be an Orwellian dystopia.

Dawson, however, while cautioning that sexual technology should be carefully studied for any potential negative impact, countered this dark view. He said it could also be of great benefit toward how we connect with other people, and even how we might grow sexually.

“Sexuality is so fundamental to what it is to be human that I believe that this a direction which we must explore and we must be cognizant of the possibilities, the dangers, and the potential,” Dawson said.

Technology is neither good nor bad

As part of the show’s introduction, McCormack brought up American Historian Melvin Kranzberg's Six Laws of Technology, particularly #1, “Technology is neither good nor bad; nor is it neutral,” and #6 “Technology is a very human activity—and so is the history of technology.”

This view of looking at what humanity could do with it—whether it’ll become a force for progress or oppression—is then discussed by five technology experts and futurists: Sam Lessin, Alex Gladstein, Jonathan Brill, Rob Reid, and, of course, Ross Dawson.

While their opinions vary on a future bending towards dystopic or utopic, Dawson’s segment of the show stands out by addressing that, because sexuality plays such an important part in being human, we need to thoroughly explore technology’s effects on relationships.

Excitement and concern for the future of sex and dating

Ross Dawson

Dawson started by touching on how VR and other new telecommunications technologies have changed dating during the lockdown, addressing that before the pandemic having a virtual dinner date was practically unheard of.

Now, though, it’s become commonplace.

But more than that, it promises that people could use this kind of technology to have greater options for getting to know one another and even establish relationships.

Other potential opportunities VR brings, whether it’s interacting with other people or even artificial intelligences, Dawson said is in expanding how we all might live in the future: having new ways to express ourselves, communicate, and even use virtual spaces as a learning environment.

Moving toward sexuality, he then discussed the idea of remote sex and his recent conversation with Howard Rheingold, who coined the term “teledildonics” in 1990.

New ways of being and expressing ourselves

Dawson next spoke about sexbots, including the common concern that their superior engineering makes them more desirable sexual partners than humans.

Even so, Dawson added that artificial intelligence and advanced robotics could create robot sex educators: allowing us to explore things we might otherwise be uncomfortable trying with another person.

In this way, he continued, technology holds tremendous promise in not supplanting but instead augmenting sexuality: giving us new ways to explore and even enhance our physical pleasures.

Measured, but also optimistic: in the podcast, Dawson laid it out clearly and articulately: while we need to stay vigilant in regards to how sex tech could cause problems, it also has the possibility to make sex and relationships much more fulfilling in the future.

Image sources: Defiance, Ross Dawson

M. Christian

M.Christian loves nothing better than exploring the intersections of sex and technology—and speculating on the future of both. A highly regarded erotica writer he has six novels,12 collections,100+ short stories, and 25 anthologies as an editor to his name. His non-fiction regularly appears n many sites, but he’s most proud of being a regular contributor to Future of Sex.

Of his erotic fiction, Tristan Taormino said that “M.Christian is a literary stylist of the highest caliber: smart, funny, frightening, sexy—there's nothing he can't write about … and brilliantly.”

Reflecting his unique ability to sympathetically and convincingly write for a range of genders and sexual orientations, his stories have appeared in multiple editions of Best American Erotica, Best Gay Erotica, Best Lesbian Erotica, The Mammoth Books of Erotica, and others. His collection of gay erotic fiction, Dirty Words, was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award.

While a majority of his stories have been collected into books like Dirty Words, his fondness for combining sex and science fiction is clearly evident in collections that include Rude Mechanicals, Technorotica, Better Than The Real Thing, Skin Effect Effect, Bachelor Machine, and Hard Drive: The Best Sci-Fi Erotica of M.Christian.

As a novelist, M.Christian’s versatility is on full display with and the somewhat controversial queer BDSM/horror/thrillers Finger's Breadth, and Me2.

M.Christian has worked on the industry’s production side as an Associate Publisher for Renaissance E Books and as a Publisher for Digital Parchment Services. The latter dedicated to celebrating the works of science-fiction legends such as William Rotsler, Jerome Bixby, Jody Scott, Arthur Byron Cover, Ernest Hogan, and James Van Hise.

Covering topics like BDSM safety, sexual education, senior sexuality concerns, queer and gender issues, plus reviewing a variety of sextech products, M.Christian’s non-fiction has appeared on sites like Kinkly, Tickle.Life, Sexpert, Queer Majority, Sex for Every Body, and—of course—his ongoing work for Future of Sex.

If there’s anything M.Christian enjoys more than writing, it’s teaching. A featured presenter, sometimes with his friend Ralph Greco Jr, at national sex and BDSM events, he’s lectured on kink play (with an emphasis on safety), polyamory, boosting sexual creativity, and erotica writing--for beginners or those wanting to go pro.

M.Christian is a cohost on two popular sex-education podcasts: Love’s Outer Limits with Dr. Amy Marsh and Licking Non-Vanilla with Ralph Greco, Jr.

M.Christian's Books (Sizzler Editions)
M.Christian's Audiobooks
Previous Article

The 15 Best Sex Toys for Couples ...

Next Article

Dating Tomorrow: Why Sex and Relationships After ...

Related articles More from author

  • Dating & Relationships

    Dating App for Trans People Is Doing User Safety and Privacy Right

    December 5, 2019
    By Sarah Paigee
  • Azuma Hikari
    Dating & RelationshipsRobots

    Virtual Anime Wife Helps Gatebox Employees Cope with Working at Home

    July 19, 2020
    By M. Christian
  • Sex TechVirtual Sex & Entertainment

    Why the Sex Tech Community Should Stop Using Hashtags

    August 27, 2019
    By Marcus K. Dowling
  • Lora DiCarlo
    RobotsSex Tech

    Female-led Sex Tech Company, Once Banned from CES, Wins 2 Awards at 2020 Show

    February 2, 2020
    By Sarah Paigee
  • Using Sexbots To Cope With Pandemic
    Dating & RelationshipsRobots

    Lonely Lovers Are Turning to Sex Dolls to Satisfy Their Pandemic ‘Skin Hunger’

    August 12, 2020
    By M. Christian
  • Sex Tech

    Turnabout or Step Back? CES Changes Tone on Sex Tech and ‘Booth Babes’

    August 12, 2019
    By M. Christian

  • Robots

    How a History of Storytelling Can Help Us Make Sense of Sex with Robots

  • Beauty contestant
    Robots

    Robot Jury Picks Winners in International Beauty Contest

  • Sex Tech

    Cyber Monday Sales: Sex Toys, VR Porn and Love Dolls [Updated]

  • TOP REVIEWS

  • Realistic Sex Games

    Review of the Best Most Realistic Sex Games You Can Play [UPDATED]

    0
  • Multiplayer Online Sex Games

    Review of the Best Massively Multiplayer Online Sex Games

    0
  • Sex Games for Mac

    The Best Sex Games for Mac

    0
  • Best Sex Game Apps for Couples

    The Best Sex Game Apps for Couples for 2020 [Updated]

    0
  • The Best RPG Sex Games of 2020

    0

Like Us on Facebook

Latest Tweets

  • Follow creators from across the world as they explore intimacy in the digital age for the Rainbows End: Sex Tech Ha… https://t.co/uf4NQQ8PiJ

    23 hours ago
  • "While the sex industry thrived in certain sectors due to rising demands for sex-related products last year, it now… https://t.co/FxiDajAGRu

    Jan 19, 2021
  • Meet @VDOMATL, a medical-grade silicone “cyber penis” that can be worn by all genders. Snap attachments in uniquely… https://t.co/0gGd03DVba

    Jan 17, 2021
  • Future of Sex writer @marcuskdowling speaks to @wearehpg CEO Dominnique Karetsos on how self-expression via sex tec… https://t.co/OYSoXQjFN8

    Jan 17, 2021
  • "Last year showed how important it is to maintain health and emotional balance and it couldn't be a better time to… https://t.co/9lAnFDeCMl

    Jan 17, 2021
Follow @futureofsex

Follow us

  • Home
  • About
  • ADVERTISE
  • Contribute
  • Story Ideas?
  • Sitemap
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
© 2011 - 2020 Future Exploration Network
This website or its third-party tools use cookies to improve user experience and track affiliate sales. To learn more about why we need to use cookies, please refer to the Privacy Policy.

By clicking the agree button or continuing to browse through the website, you agree to the use of cookies. Accept Privacy Policy
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Non-necessary