What they foresaw, didn’t see coming, and what might be yet to come

More than half a century ago, while visiting a San Francisco Bay Area Science Fiction convention, the adult magazine Sexscope [NSFW] asked a panel of highly respected writers to share their thoughts on how social and technological changes might change the face of sex and human intimacy in the years ahead.

Though many of the writers’ forecasts were less-than-optimistic—reflecting the tumult of the 1970s sexual revolution—Sexscope’s editor however points out that, “Surprisingly enough, our panel came to the conclusion that sex, while a perennial source of trouble, has a great future.” 

“A mind-stretching force for the creation of the habit of anticipation”

Opening with the above quote from the late Alvin Toffler’s, Future Shock on science fiction’s role in society, Sexscope introduces our experts:

• Robert Silverberg, a Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame inductee, genre Grandmaster, and winner of multiple Hugo and Nebula awards.
• Jean Marie Stine whose underground work of “antipornography,” Season of the Witch, was hailed when it appeared as the first mature blending of science fiction and eroticism. 
• Jack Jardine, whose Agent of Terra books, written under the byline Larry Maddock, were the best-selling science fiction series of their time. 
• Jane Gallion, the feminist literary rebel who wrote Biker, Stoned, and Why Get Married, former editor of the Feminine Response, and a contributor to a number of alternative publications over the years. 
• William Rotsler, a legendary cartoonist, filmmaker, and science fiction writer whose work appeared in Adam, Knight, Galaxy, and many other publications has become legendary.
• Paul Turner, a former ordnance engineer for ballistic missiles, photographer, who also contributed to numerous adult magazines.

“Not the old rules at all”

Though many of the  issues the panelists discussed have become commonplace, this was a time when frank talk was on the rise and a lot of “firsts” were happening.”

After discussing how relationships have begun moving away from traditional gender roles of men working while women raise children. The panelists then began speculating about the shift towards the science of sex and its current and future discoveries:

STINE: Masters and Johnson are finally discovering exactly what goes on during the sex act, which no one ever knew before, physiologically speaking. And as a result of this they’ve gone a long way toward defining what healthy sexuality is, and what impairs it or causes sexual dysfunction, as well as how to cure it. Now there is hope for all those frustrated, suffering millions whose marriages have been one long sexual failure. And freedom from guilt, too—something not to be discounted. They can be free to enjoy their sex lives now instead of later on in life when, if they’re lucky, they get their heads straightened out about sex and get over a lot of their conditioned hang-ups. Because until now, the sad truth is, most people have never gotten their heads together about this, and probably less than one in every fifty is really satisfying or pleasurable to them.

JARDINE: The new people are growing up in an entirely different universe. 

TURNER: The rules are all different today. They’re not the old rules at all. So they’re not going to have to overcome all those hang-ups, because they’re not acquiring them. They don’t have to—they have the means, chemical and mechanical, to avoid having to go through all those traumas.

SEXSCOPE: What do you mean: chemical and mechanical?

TURNER: Contraception. Universal contraception.

RECOMMENDED READ: Futurologist’s 2015 Sexbot Prediction: Laughably off Base or Surprisingly Accurate?

SILVERBERG: The sexual revolution now is something qualitatively different from the sexual revolution of the 1920’s or the1930’s. For the first time there is an absolute separation between sex and reproduction, and that is taking the consequences out of sex, turning it into merely a meeting of bodies, which it has never been before. I don’t mean merely a meeting of bodies, but that anybody, at any given time, is free to do as he pleases without fear of the result. This is something brand new and it is having explosive consequences.

“Sex as media”

Pirouetting away from reproduction, birth control, and how they might fuel sexual liberation in the future, the panels pondered what might happen if the social pendulum should swing the other way:

JARDINE: Somebody had a story a few years ago, “Coming of Age Day,’ by Jorgenson, in which there was an appliance, a living tissue that each person was given on his thirteenth birthday and wore on the genitals from then on, The appliance gave each person a satisfying sex life of his own so there was no need for interaction or contact with other people.

GALLION: Sounds downright unnatural to me. Besides, a thing like that would completely eliminate the aspect of sex as media.

STINE: What does sex have to do with media?

GALLION: It’s a communications device. It’s like words.

JARDINE: Sex is much more than playing skillfully with each other’s genitals.

GALLION: That’s why all these studies, like Masters and Johnson, can only go so far. They teach sex just as mechanics.

STINE: Oh, no. There’s much more to it than that. In the first program they used that approach, but only because no one else had ever investigated it thoroughly

enough to have a clear idea of what really went on. After all, without knowing what it is, there’s no way to start making it better. In the second program, the treatment program, their stated goal was to treat it as communication and to improve the communications system. They sat down with people who had a block against sexual communication in their relationship, and tried to help them learn to communicate on that level. They don’t try to cure the people, they try to cure the relationship. That’s what they say the patient is, not the people.

STINE: I think that one of the taboos we can foresee will be against having more than a certain number of children, and this could be one of the big ones. A guy who fathers six or seven kids could become as much of a social outcast as someone who displays his genitals publicly today. Another future taboo could be that it may become very socially unacceptable not to keep your clap shots up. People may become hung up about venereal disease in a whole new way.

SILVERBERG: That’s not really a hang-up; it’s more like brushing your teeth; it’s a matter of common courtesy. Common courtesy is not a hang-up.

STINE: But what starts out as common courtesy often ends up as a taboo. Don’t forget that in ancient Egypt they had signs warning, “Don’t piss in the streets. That’s what animals do, not what men do.” And it’s no longer just common courtesy not to piss in public anymore, it’s a taboo. And it hangs some men up so bad they can’t even piss in a public john unless they are hidden in a booth. There’s even a specific name for the psychological disorder.

“Exclusive anything is generally a bit pathological”

The panelists next offered thoughts on the evolution of gender and sexual attraction:

JARDINE: There seems to be a trend in the counter-culture towards increasing bisexual behavior. And I think one of the keynotes in the future of sex will be a less gender-oriented sex drive.

STINE: Well, once you take it out of the area of reproduction, you open it up wide because it really doesn’t matter any more who or what or how or why, merely whether or not it feels good.

SILVERBERG: As you move toward a concept of sex as body communication, the more bodies of all sorts that you can communicate with the greater will be the amount of information you take in; and arbitrarily to cut off fifty percent of the possible information flow is something that I think is going to die out when our present hang-ups in that direction, which are very powerful, begin to eliminate themselves. It may become unusual to be exclusively heterosexual.

JARDINE: Exclusive anything is generally a bit pathological. Society itself seems to be becoming less goal oriented than I recall it having been fifteen, twenty years ago… and I suspect that this is slopping over onto sex, Sexual participation is probably increasingly less orgasm-oriented, less looking forward to the con- summation and more concerned with what’s actually happening right now, whenever now is. I agree with Jane, it’s a form of communication, a highly important form of communication. If you really want to get to know someone, that’s almost a necessity, to totally know them, because it’s a form of communication that can’t be done in any other way.

STINE: All of these people enjoying sex, not just having it, not just going through the ritual, but enjoying it and communicating and being close to other human beings, is going to have such an effect on their heads. People are gonna walk up to each other and they’re not going to feel as threatened or frightened anymore.

“Well, we’re living in the future”

Even with fifty four years separating us, it’s fascinating to see the importance of trying to stay positive about the human sexuality’s future:

SILVERBERG: Everything we’ve been discussing so far is really just a small part of what’s going on in the future, right?

JARDINE: Mainly; what’s going on now?

STINE: Well, we’re living in the future, as Dave McDaniel or George Clayton Johnson would say.

TURNER: It’s simply a small part of what’s happening, and sex is going to be affected even further by the technological phenomenon that we’re living in now. A sexual experience is communication at a most basic level. I just don’t see any way to really anticipate that completely. Where we’re at now is the beginning of all that. We’re at the beginning of a complete and total change in all aspects of our lives—sex just happens to be one of them—but it’s really impossible to say what’s going to happen in the future. All we’ve been talking about is what’s happening now, at the moment.

STINE: I think inevitably if we’re going to see increasing sexual activity, we’re going to see increasing combinations, you know, the whole concept of group sex.

It’s not gonna be just little swing parties out in the suburbs, it’s gonna be like four or five people are going to be living together, and one afternoon they’re all going to be sitting down and somebody’s gonna say, “Let’s all go have sex.” Then it’s gonna be this whole writhing pile of bodies, all of whom are communicating seriously and deliberately to each other, and all of them feeling good about it when it’s happening, no guilt, no hang-ups, no inhibitions.

SILVERBERG: That’s a hard act to follow.

TURNER: I’ll drink to that, but not with this water.

SILVERBERG: Even the future of water is deteriorating.

JARDINE: The future of everything is deteriorating, except sex, which seems to be looking up. 

Image Sources: Depositphots

The post Flashbacks & Flashforwards: Legendary Science Fiction Authors Predicted Sex’s Far Future—In 1971 appeared first on Future of Sex.

Doll Authority’s resident expert might be biased—or extremely well-informed

When it comes to forecasting the future, let alone how human sexuality might evolve in the years ahead, the track records of most experienced, exceptionally well-educated, highly respected futurists have often scored more misses than hits.

However, when experienced, educated, respected sexologists add their expertise to the mix, the hits keep on coming.

One such expert is Dr. Olivia Lee, resident sexpert and relationship scholar for Doll Authority, a synthetic companion retailer. Dr. Lee holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the City College of New York, a Master’s degree in Human Sexuality from Stanford, and earned her doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the University of Chicago.

During an interview conducted by the Daily Mail, Dr. Lee discussed the most interesting sexual trends for 2025 and beyond, including the continuing popularity of erotic chatbots, AI-equipped sexbots, and online dating, as well as social developments such as sexual wellness going mainstream, solo polyamory, and “freak mating.” 

Yours, mine, and our quirks

The latter, Dr. Lee explained, is part of what she calls our ‘kink centric’ year: ‘Freak Matching whereby people choose to date those who share similar quirks, including sexual preferences, will be a popular trend. For example, if you find feet erotic or enjoy sex doll companions, finding a partner with this shared passion is likely to become a priority during the year ahead.” 

That said, it’s worth mentioning that BDSM-specific dating sites have been with us for more than several years already.

RECOMMENDED READ: Futurologist’s 2015 Sexbot Prediction: Laughably off Base or Surprisingly Accurate?

Dr. Lee also envisions that AI-human intimacy will gain greater acceptance, especially among “busy young professionals prioritizing speedy responses” though she doesn’t explain why speedy chatbots would be appealing.

Plastic fantastic

Given her association with Doll Authority, Dr. Lee understandably has a distinctly positive view of where synthetic companions might be headed in the near future.

But even if she wasn’t, anyone tracking sextech can see that sexbots, particularly the AI-equipped variety, are here to stay.  Customers and manufacturers alike find that emotional intelligence advances in AI mean that the newest models are not just  sexualized dolls but true, emotionally supportive companions.

Even Forbes weighed in on the issue and, while echoing many of the most popular concerns—primarily that AI companions are a problem that needs to be solved—ends on a remarkably optimistic note:

As we stand on the brink of this AI-driven sexual revolution, one thing is clear: The future of human sexuality and relationships will be profoundly shaped by how we choose to integrate these powerful technologies into our most intimate experiences. 

The decisions we make today will echo through generations, influencing not just how we connect and find pleasure, but potentially reshaping the very nature of human intimacy itself.

Your one-person, looking-glass sexlife

Dr. Lee’s next few predictions involve how we humans might interact over the next few months, such as social transparency: the idea that it could be surprisingly beneficial if people focus not on maintaining personal privacy but on sharing what they do and who they are.

“Daters are realising just how important it is to be open about their sexual fantasies, desires, and preferences,” she told the Daily Mail. “Especially if you’re looking to determine compatibility.”

Dr. Lee says the trend toward solo polyamory, where individuals prefer to live separately rather than as part of a polyamorous residence, will continue.  This is not surprising, given nonmonogamy’s ever-increasing rise.

The last of Dr. Lee’s social forecasts is a swipe left away from fast dating and a swipe right towards quality as opposed to quantity:

More of us will be looking to build long-term, meaningful connections when dating, looking beyond appearances to find intentional love, not just lust. As these preferences change, we will see daters becoming more willing to work on their relationships and build strong foundations. We might have been wondering where romance had gone, but it’s finally on its way back!

How we see, not what we see

Despite whether Dr. Lee’s view of humanity’s sexual future proves to be true, it’s essential to look beyond the accuracy of her predictions to how some are reacting to them

For instance, Unilad’s headline of “Sex Expert Predicts The Top Bedroom Trends Of 2025 And The Results Are Terrifying” doesn’t paint a dire picture of the future but how far we have yet to go until the idea of people finding new ways to find companionship, to play, and love are—beautiful.

Image Sources: Depositphotos

The post Dr. Olivia Lee’s Predictions: Solo Polyamory, AI Sexbots, and the Return of Romance appeared first on Future of Sex.

It all may depend on what an artificial companion may or may not be

The advent of 2025 has seen several sites reminding us, often with barely concealed scorn, of Dr. Ian Pearson’s ten-year-old projection we should be well on our way to seeing “robot sex overtaking human-human.”

But in reality, is the famed futurist that far off the mark or is much of what he predicted already well on its way—or perhaps even already here?

The only certainty is change—and mockery

“It’s safe to say,” Outkick reported, “that the experts who predicted that women would be having more sex with robots than with men by 2025 were wrong.”

The Daily Mail agreed, saying, “New Year, new you and new dating life—and maybe a new robotic partner? An unearthed article from 2016 has gone viral, claiming that by 2025, women will be having more sex with robots than people.”

RECOMMENDED READ: Why The Future and Futurists Shouldn’t Forget The Power Of Human Sexuality

In all fairness, Pearson’s The Rise Of The Robosexuals—commissioned by the UK-based sextoy retailer Bondara in 2015—and currently only available via Wayback Machine—doesn’t say anything of the sort, “While some people will enthusiastically embrace relationship-free robot sex as soon as they can afford one, as early as 2025, it won’t have much chance of overtaking sex with humans overall until 2050.”

Don’t crystal gaze

Dr. Pearson, who predicted sophisticated machine learning systems though he missed the mark on the arrival of fleets of fully autonomous vehicles, also made other predictions which still seem barely possible while others are already with us today.

For example, Pearson claimed, “By 2030, most people will have some form of virtual sex as casually as they browse porn today.” 

According to a BigData report, this is all but certain, as “many experts have projected that virtual reality (VR) porn will reach $1 billion business by 2025.”

Pearson further speculated, “By 2035, the majority of people will own sex toys that interact with virtual reality sex.”

Over at Technavio, the online sex toys market size is forecast to increase by USD 11.56 billion, at a CAGR of 11.1% between 2024 and 2029,” making Pearson’s estimate seem reasonable.

“We will start to see some forms of robot sex appearing in high-income, very wealthy households as soon as 2025,” was another potential Pearson raised.  

Though this  may initially count as a miss, it could be argued the current wave of extremely-sophisticated AI-enabled synthetic companions quite nicely fit the bill.

Besides, “robot sex” doesn’t necessarily have to mean physically constructed but could be extended to include digital relationships, like the surprising proliferation of erotic and romantic chatbots.

Pearson’s other introductory speculations are even easier to anticipate, like the UK sextoy market hitting one billion. 

He also said, “Leisure spending could grow by a factor of five, and the sex market in 20 years could be three times bigger than today and seven times bigger by 2050,” which might be more difficult to quantify, but considering how well Pearson’s scored thus far, it’s not unlikely.

Close your palms

Those are Pearson’s time-specific predictions; the rest of his report focused on more in-depth speculations based on the state of sex technology back in 2015.

Fascinatingly, he doesn’t see virtual and augmented reality as just a new adult entertainment platform but, further down the road, could prove to be an innovative and effective technique for exploring sexual power dynamics and gender fluidity:

“After experimenting, people might become accustomed to gender transitions, and sexuality will be more fluid. With the flexibility of brain mapping, new sexes can also be created too, with new kinds of genitalia and new kinds of gender roles and behaviors. The whole nature of sex is up to engineering and imagination. Augmented reality allows people to present any gender as their real-world avatar too, so people passing by would see them as they would like to be seen.”

Leave your tea leaves behind

Is Dr. Pearson’s The Rise Of The Robosexuals on or off target?  For writers looking for an effortless click-baiting headline, it apparently doesn’t matter.

But though Pearson wrote his report a decade ago, he’s anticipated developments we see right now and where they might be heading.

One important aspect of Pearson’s report worth mentioning is its overwhelming positivity, something we sincerely hope he’s got completely, totally right:

“Social values will adapt to these new possibilities and subsequent behaviors, and loving relationships will remain important in spite of these shifts in values. If we can keep love and our emotional human relationships but have more, better, and safer sex, what’s not to like?”

Image Sources: Depositphotos

The post Futurologist’s 2015 Sexbot Prediction: Laughably off Base or Surprisingly Accurate? appeared first on Future of Sex.