I’m building a robot boyfriend—and you can, too
April 28, 2018 3:14 PM Subscribe
Fei Liu's Three Laws Of Love Robotics:
- A love machine does not need to be humanoid, but it must elicit and invite gestures of care.
- A love machine will be built with open-source technology.
- A love machine doesn’t always obey.
A love machine may not always obey, but it should always honour a safeword. Right?
posted by cstross at 3:28 PM on April 28, 2018 [14 favorites]
posted by cstross at 3:28 PM on April 28, 2018 [14 favorites]
What is my purpose?
You passbutter lube.
posted by SonInLawOfSam at 3:44 PM on April 28, 2018 [11 favorites]
You pass
posted by SonInLawOfSam at 3:44 PM on April 28, 2018 [11 favorites]
Seriously though - this entire line of "research" seems troubling to me. Upgrading from a pleasure hole to a love bot that can say no... (to borrow a second time from Rick and Morty) That just seems like slavery with extra steps.
posted by SonInLawOfSam at 3:52 PM on April 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by SonInLawOfSam at 3:52 PM on April 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
A love machine may not always obey, but it should always honour a safeword. Right?
Westworld inspired me to adopt the safeword “Cease all motor functions!”
It hasn’t worked.
posted by ejs at 3:57 PM on April 28, 2018 [5 favorites]
Westworld inspired me to adopt the safeword “Cease all motor functions!”
It hasn’t worked.
posted by ejs at 3:57 PM on April 28, 2018 [5 favorites]
The first iteration of Gabriel2052 has a body based on a modified robotic arm purchased off Amazon.
As the late Wynonie Harris put it in his song "Lovin' Machine":
Well you pull the lever on the right
Two arms jump out
Wrap all around you
Make you scream and shout
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 4:01 PM on April 28, 2018
As the late Wynonie Harris put it in his song "Lovin' Machine":
Well you pull the lever on the right
Two arms jump out
Wrap all around you
Make you scream and shout
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 4:01 PM on April 28, 2018
Beware when you notice your dear warm and cuddly robot friend googling "kevorkian".
posted by sammyo at 4:37 PM on April 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by sammyo at 4:37 PM on April 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
3. A love machine doesn’t always obey. ... A large part of my approach in making Gabriel2052 feel “real” is imbuing him with the ability to challenge me.
SO IMPORTANT. As a sex worker, I cannot overemphasize how important this is to creating "real" intimacy. I do not act like a fembot — not just because (obviously) I'm not actually a fembot, but also because most customers don't really want that.
There's no satisfaction in getting affection from someone who is programmed to only ever give a predictable positive reaction to whatever you say or request or do. It kills the suspension of disbelief.
A few examples: I told a customer off for mansplaining. I told an NFL player that I don't care about football and won't discuss it. I told a Gen-X member that seeing as how his generation ruined the economy and the environment, millennials sleep just fine for "ruining" music. In every one of those cases, the customer gave me money.
Of course, there is a balance to it. You can't just say what you think. You have to feel out what the situation calls for. But learning this balance is critical to maintaining regulars, which is necessary for financial stability as a stripper in this difficult economy.
Too much erraticness, and the suspension of disbelief is ruined. Too little, and we get exactly what we expect—which is normally what we don’t actually want in courtship, even if we say we do.
posted by Peppermint Snowflake at 4:58 PM on April 28, 2018 [25 favorites]
SO IMPORTANT. As a sex worker, I cannot overemphasize how important this is to creating "real" intimacy. I do not act like a fembot — not just because (obviously) I'm not actually a fembot, but also because most customers don't really want that.
There's no satisfaction in getting affection from someone who is programmed to only ever give a predictable positive reaction to whatever you say or request or do. It kills the suspension of disbelief.
A few examples: I told a customer off for mansplaining. I told an NFL player that I don't care about football and won't discuss it. I told a Gen-X member that seeing as how his generation ruined the economy and the environment, millennials sleep just fine for "ruining" music. In every one of those cases, the customer gave me money.
Of course, there is a balance to it. You can't just say what you think. You have to feel out what the situation calls for. But learning this balance is critical to maintaining regulars, which is necessary for financial stability as a stripper in this difficult economy.
Too much erraticness, and the suspension of disbelief is ruined. Too little, and we get exactly what we expect—which is normally what we don’t actually want in courtship, even if we say we do.
posted by Peppermint Snowflake at 4:58 PM on April 28, 2018 [25 favorites]
The Miracles (without Smokey) did it in 1975... LOVE MACHINE! (The only thing that hasn't aged well are the "Fat Albert grunts")
posted by oneswellfoop at 5:26 PM on April 28, 2018
posted by oneswellfoop at 5:26 PM on April 28, 2018
I wonder how this sort of thing would work for men...for example, ones that get off on abuse and aren't gonna rehabilitate (like the trash thread).
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:18 PM on April 28, 2018
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:18 PM on April 28, 2018
You'd need to come up with a creative solution fast, since this sort of thing stands to make many of them entirely superfluous.
posted by Freelance Demiurge at 8:12 PM on April 28, 2018
posted by Freelance Demiurge at 8:12 PM on April 28, 2018
The Miracles (without Smokey) did it in 1975... LOVE MACHINE! (The only thing that hasn't aged well are the "Fat Albert grunts")
Yes, but how would an AI-based "love machine" parse the double negative of "don't work for nobody but you"? That could end badly.
posted by jonp72 at 6:29 AM on April 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
Yes, but how would an AI-based "love machine" parse the double negative of "don't work for nobody but you"? That could end badly.
posted by jonp72 at 6:29 AM on April 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
A love machine may not always obey, but it should always honour a safeword. Right?
As long as it isn't "Laputan machine."
posted by xedrik at 9:18 AM on April 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
As long as it isn't "Laputan machine."
posted by xedrik at 9:18 AM on April 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
I told a Gen-X member that seeing as how his generation ruined the economy and the environment, millennials sleep just fine for "ruining" music.
Aww, now that's just negging. :-) We were never allowed to get our hands on the economy or the environment. But since our motto is "what-EV-errrr," we won't get upset even though you're wrong wrong wrongity wrong!
posted by Harvey Kilobit at 8:04 PM on April 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
Aww, now that's just negging. :-) We were never allowed to get our hands on the economy or the environment. But since our motto is "what-EV-errrr," we won't get upset even though you're wrong wrong wrongity wrong!
posted by Harvey Kilobit at 8:04 PM on April 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
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posted by grahamparks at 3:19 PM on April 28, 2018 [1 favorite]