In the Boston Review, data scientist and writer Cathy O’Neil imagines a tongue-in-cheek future scenario in which sex between humans is fully replaced by sex between humans and robots. In this hypothetical future, cyborg sex has all kinds of unexpected and positive ramifications, from the reduction of gender violence to an increase in sexual satisfaction for all. Here’s an excerpt:
Gender, finally, is truly meaningless. And while inequalities still exist, power imbalances have been stripped of their tendency toward domination.
The grand irony here is that people became dehumanized as they became more cyborged and yet people have never felt so well cared for. Society finally concluded that everyone deserves good sex as part of a good life, but not necessarily with each other.
Now that we don’t expect humans—let alone a particular gender—to fill that role, our interactions with other have improved. We ask less of each other, but we connect more, be it virtually or in reality. In short, we have all become more human now that we are fully coupled with cyborgs.
Image via Boston Review.