By the summer of 2024, the prototype of a "next generation" sex robot with sensor-controlled mobility and AI-driven language skills will be ready, according to a Chinese manufacturer of sex dolls and robots.
According to Evan Lee, CEO of Shenzhen-based Starpery Technologies, the new sex robot will be able to respond to both vocal and physical touches, as well as respond by speaking back to the user's voice.
Prototypes sex robots
Prototypes of the next generation of sex dolls that can communicate both verbally and physically with users are expected by August of this year, according to Lee. There are still technological hurdles to overcome, especially in creating a real human connection. Straightforward conversation is easy, but developing interactive responses requires sophisticated modeling by specialized software companies.
Although some sex robots on the existing market can talk, sometimes with the help of artificial intelligence, these features are usually quite basic. A "conversation" with sex robots is often uncomfortable and rarely goes beyond the robot producing general sex noises or responding with a general response.
However, given the recent explosive advances in AI large language models (LLMs), it is clear that the technology currently being used is advanced enough to exceed these limits. Lee stated that both AI and sensor technology would be used in his next-generation sex robot, but he did not specify which LLM Starpery Technology will be used.
> Visit the Starpery Technologies website <
Movements and speech
The new sex robot, according to Lee, "can respond with both movement and speech, significantly enhancing the user experience by focusing on emotional connection rather than just basic conversational skills." The robot does this by using AI and sensors all over its body.
Starpery Sex Doll
Starpery Technologies says the company's efforts to develop better communicators were prompted by customers' desire for more intimate relationships with sex robots.
According to the spokesperson
company an important reason for doll lovers to choose dolls in today's market. We work hard to ensure that consumers have an excellent user experience through good human-puppet interaction.
The representative went on to say, perhaps lowering expectations a bit:
We can only roughly introduce the design intentions and our goals before the prototype comes out.
Generation Leap
One could argue that a generational leap is sorely needed for sex robots. Although many media outlets have predicted that advanced, AI-driven sex robots will soon invade the hearts and bedrooms of mainstream society, this imagined near future is still far away.
The famous Realdoll
Because most sex robots cost thousands of dollars, the sex robot industry is thought to remain highly specialized, despite the lack of official figures on its size. And although manufacturers of sex robots, such as US-based RealDoll make incredibly lifelike-looking devices, they are very different from the walking, talking, acrobatically in love humanoids depicted in science fiction because of their heavy weight, often stiff movements and limited speech.
To address the weight issue, Starpery Technology has already made sex dolls that weigh an acceptable 29 kg. However, it is unclear whether Lee's claimed verbal and physical reaction capabilities for the latest prototype will live up to expectations. Ideally, a sex robot should be able to "talk" as sophisticatedly as some of the largest AI chatbots already on the market. This should not be too difficult to achieve. That would be the best we could hope for.
Concerns about AI ethics
A South China Morning Post opinion post about the upcoming sex robot prototype, meanwhile, has raised concerns about Chinese sex robots and AI ethics.
To promote reliable AI in Europe and beyond, by ensuring that AI systems respect fundamental rights, safety and ethical principles, and by addressing the risks of very powerful and impactful AI models,
noted writer David Dodwell, the European Union recently passed the Artificial Intelligence Act.
According to Dodwell
makes clear even the most basic thought experiment that without such robots acquiring fundamentally human capabilities that will fall into the EU's "unacceptable risk" category, Starpery's ambitions, and those of his competitors, cannot be fully realized.
Chinese sex robots from Starpery Technologies
China is likely to be at the center of the ethical and physical challenges associated with the increasing use of AI in a wide range of industries, as the country is a major hub of the $35 billion U.S. global sex toy industry.
When it comes to the advancement of technology that takes advantage of these capabilities, the ethics of AI must of course come first. But before we get overly alarmed, let's see if this "next generation" Chinese sex robot can really do more than just sigh, say "hello" and raise and lower her arms a bit!
