AI Sex Dolls Are Not Embraced by Everyone in the Love Doll Community

Often viewed as muses, today's synthetic companions offer an outlet for human creativity.

As part of our ongoing Future of Sex Expert Series, we asked leading voices about the most anticipated and exciting developments in the next five years for sexual robotics.

Leaders in the sex tech industry are eagerly integrating artificial intelligence into today’s love and sex dolls.

While many are excited about an artificially intelligent future, some of today’s love and sex doll owners wonder what all the fuss is about.

Take Benji for example.

I met Benji when I was interviewing doll owners as part of my research on today’s love and sex doll community. When I met Benji, I learned he has a human partner, several dolls, and has been an active member in the doll community for years.

He describes the community as a place where he finds camaraderie with other people who, like him, thumb their nose at polite society and normative sexuality.

When I asked Benji about artificial intelligence, he said:

“To me, artificial intelligence takes away some of the imagination of doll ownership. To me, it’s kind of more fun to conversate with them in your head or something.”

Creative care and role-playing

Benji is not alone in appreciating the creative aspect of owning and caring for dolls.

In the absence of artificial intelligence, many doll owners write elaborate backstories and craft intricate personas for their dolls.

Part of what joins the community together is sharing these stories and exploring personas together by having the dolls become friends with one another in a form of structured role-playing.

But even without the community, even in their own homes, many doll owners value their creative energies and see dolls as a muse for a range of activities beyond sex including photography, creative writing, sewing, altering clothes, and more.

As such, some doll owners think artificial intelligence will take away one of the best parts of their synthetic companionship—creativity.

Looking into the future, I have no do but that more artificially intelligent dolls, and someday robots, will be made. As their price decreases, it is likely more dolls and robots will be found in people’s homes.

But part of what draws people into the love and sex doll community is the fun that can be had from writing a doll’s history, imagining a doll as sassy one day and affectionate the next, and using those creative energies in productive ways.

The most exciting development in the love and sex doll industry, for me, is not necessarily whether dolls will become robots or artificially intelligent, but rather, how dolls will enable and encourage people to explore their creative faculties.

Image source: Kokeshi.ai