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An Overview of Love Between Humans and Artificial Partners

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Part of the book series: Human–Computer Interaction Series ((HCIS))

Abstract

In this chapter, we discover the history of love between humans and artificial partners, which has its origins in ancient Greek mythologies. Our fascination with artificial companions is evident in science fiction, films and television. With the research developments in robotics and artificial intelligence, intimate relationship with virtual and robotic partners is no longer pure science fiction, but it is also studied as a serious academic subject, known as Love and Sex with Robots. In order to continue with the discussion on this topic, it is necessary to understand the complicated emotion of love. We will attempt to explain this human desire by examining several popular theories of love. Finally, we will discuss whether and how could this new type of love be accepted in society.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Kirsty Boyle, 2008. karakuri.info. http://www.karakuri.info/perspectives/index.html.

  2. 2.

    I Dated a Robot. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Dated_a_Robot.

  3. 3.

    David Levy predicts that human-robot marriage will be legalised by 2050 on the condition that robots will be able to demonstrate sufficient artificial intelligence to understand, make decisions, and give consent to the marriage (see Chap. 9). Similarly, a virtual character with the same software capabilities should also be granted the same legal right if they can demonstrate a similar intelligence.

  4. 4.

    1st International Conference on Human-Robot Personal Relationships. https://hrpr.uvt.nl/2008.

  5. 5.

    International Congress on Love and Sex with Robots. http://loveandsexwithrobots.org/.

  6. 6.

    Lovotics Journal. https://www.omicsonline.org/lovotics.php.

  7. 7.

    The Institute, IEEE. 7 April 2008. http://theinstitute.ieee.org/members/profiles/is-cyberspace-making-you-sick7.

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Cheok, A.D., Zhang, E.Y. (2019). An Overview of Love Between Humans and Artificial Partners. In: Human–Robot Intimate Relationships. Human–Computer Interaction Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94730-3_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94730-3_1

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