Pornography and sex of the future? VR and AI could change many things

Statistics released by PornHub (a popular site for adults) about access to VR videos are clear: the spread of this new technology is already intriguing many people from 180,000 views daily to 900,000 (on Christmas Day 2016, just discarded the new gadget brought by Santa Claus).

The virtual porn industry and sex in the future promises to create new immersive experiences. We are also thinking about adding devices to replicate even the senses of taste, smell and touch.

This could change the paradigm transforming an experience that today is typical of a spectator, in that of an actor, interactive.

There is no lack of controversy and the request for rules that are able to avoid access to this content to minors, just as it was with the advent of videotapes or online videos. But the downsides can be many more and also linked to adults. In a study done by The Conversation magazine, participants were asked to imagine a fictional character and what kind of use it would make of this technology. Some of the participants imagined positive situations. Others, however, have imagined being able to use this technology to recreate virtual images of real people, with whom to entertain themselves in immersive experiences or on which to exercise even violence.

This obviously gives birth to a whole series of moral and ethical dilemmas on how to manage the possibility that these phenomena are reality in the future and on which are the rules that we should apply. If more we go to consider that today even tools like Facebook Spaces are going in the direction of creating virtual worlds where to live immersive experiences, the concern increases.

Reading the recent Zuckerberg manifesto, in fact, it does not seem that Facebook intends to eliminate violent or offensive content from its platform but instead aims to optimize the tools that allow you to set your preferences to decide whether to see them or not, by tearing the maximum freedom on what to upload online.

Artificial intelligence and sex with sexbots

From virtual to physical reality, where we find the proposals of many manufacturers of the so-called “sexbots” with artificial intelligence, whose first highly customizable prototypes are already on the market.

We are talking about an industry that is estimated to be worth 30 billion dollars and that has disquieting nuances à-la Westworld.

Harmony 2.0, created by Real Doll, for example, is the first model in the world of talking sexual doll. It can be customized in appearance, but also in personality, choosing between 18 different shades through an app. It also promises to learn and remember user information, so you can interact with your favorite dish or other topics.

Also in this case, positive and negative applications and implications of these technologies are possible.

The challenges that arise are huge and must be tackled immediately. So we can decide how we want to use them before they are spread on the mass market.