AI sex toys to overtake humans as millions forced to 'up their game' or get replaced

Artificial intelligence is poised to disrupt sex and the pursuit of pleasure for tens of millions of people, an expert has claimed.

This should come as no surprise. After all, this is the age of the ‘digisexual’: a time when an increasing number of people associate their sexual identities with the use of technology. This can involve the use of an electric dildo, a vibrator, online porn, or if one happens to feel particularly adventurous, all three. What it doesn’t really require, though, is another human being in the room.

When it comes to sex, going solo is fast becoming the new norm.

PornHub now gets more monthly visitors than Netflix. Pornography and technology are inextricably linked. As the tech specialist Anna Frist previously asked: “Are you aware that 96% of deepfake videos are porn?” A portmanteau of “deep learning” and “fake”, deepfakes are a form of artificial intelligence (AI) that replaces a person’s likeness with fake, but often very convincing images and audio recordings.

Sex has already been revolutionized by tech. However, as an increasing number of people retreat into their virtual layers and fewer people have sex with other humans, the revolution is expected to accelerate at breakneck speed. Brace yourself. Things are about to get very weird.

One cannot discuss this revolution without discussing a man by the name of Brian Sloan, best described as the Henry Ford of the AI-infused, sexual space. A modern-day Yoda, he wants you to achieve an orgasm — by using only your mind.

Sloan is not your typical inventor. Don’t expect to see him pitching ideas on Shark Tank. That’s because his inventions are, for lack of a better word, wild. Take the Autoblow machine, which Sloan describes “as the world’s greatest mechanical blowjob device”. Retailing at a little over £800 ($1,000), it’s best described as a penis pump on steroids.

Sloan, who agreed to speak exclusively with the Daily Express US, graduated from law school in 2005. However, law, he says, pursuing a career in law never really appealed to him. During his time in school, he discovered local antique auctions in south central Pennsylvania. “After graduating”, says Sloan, “I decided to do eBay full time in Chicago, but I scaled up to include bankruptcy auctions, medical equipment auctions, and really anything that I could buy low and sell for more on eBay”.

Soon after, his journey into the world of sex-oriented devices began. “While doing that I came upon a category with high demand and few sellers – latex fetishwear. I started my own brand of fetishwear after finding a supplier in China, and from there, my eyes were opened to the low-quality state of sex toys at the time, especially for men”, noted an energetic Sloan.

In a rather bold move, Sloan decided to move to China to be closer to the factories. Less than a year after the move, history was made with the creation of the first ever Autoblow. “Many people think I entered the field because I was particularly into self-pleasure,” Sloan said.

But that is not true: “I entered the field because I saw the sales potential in taking pleasure seriously and offering men a machine that felt great.” In the space of 15 years, Sloan and his colleagues have iterated on that initial machine concept – nine times, to be exact.

But Sloan doesn’t want to be known as a one-trick pony. He is fascinated by the future of sex and the future of self-pleasure. However, according to the entrepreneur, sex and self-pleasure must be separated; they are not the same. Although he believes sex between people will continue to be had in the traditional manner, he expects anywhere from 10-20 people of the population to opt for internet-connected sex toys with sexual service providers. Sloan is currently working on EEG-controlled sex toys.

For the uninitiated, by attaching electrodes (small, metal discs) to the scalp, electroencephalograms (EEGs) measure electrical activity in the brain. Elon Musk wants to get us to Mars. Sloan wants to get us to orgasm.

All of us, the able-bodied and the physically challenged. In the US alone, over 60 million people live with some form of disability.

Once the related technology is improved, he says, one person’s thoughts could activate sex toys in numerous locations, from Los Angeles to London. The mind, always considered a powerful “tool”, is about to be deployed in truly unique ways.

According to Sloan, “the future of self-pleasure may also be brighter than the future of traditional sexual interactions” because inventors are creating “more and more advanced and realistic methods of reaching orgasm”. For example, a new Autoblow that Sloan plans to launch at the end of the year will sync with adult films, including VR films.

“The satisfaction one receives from self-pleasure while their device is synced with a VR film may, for some men, be greater than satisfaction provided by real life partners,” he suggested.

Sloan is concerned that all-consuming tech may prove to be too much for some people – men in particular.

“Yes”, he says, men may overdo it and choose the ease and high level of pleasure of advanced sex machinery” over the challenge of forming relationships with other human beings.

Sloan firmly believes that “humans will need to up their sexual game to continue being competitive with devices”.

The aforementioned Prist tends to agree. She thinks the world of tomorrow will likely “have more dolls, not just sex dolls, able to meet all kinds of demands”.

“Unfortunately,” she continues, “as rapid progress takes pace”, people, somewhat inevitably, will “become lonelier”.

Prist added: “A creature to talk to, especially one that can be customized, will help create some pleasant evenings. Would that be a life-sized doll made of rubber or a virtual one like Joy from Blade Runner? I still do not know.”

But, as is clear to see, humans will have less of a presence in the lives of other humans. Not just their sex lives. Their lives in general.

The late, great Hunter S. Thompson famously suggested that “sex without love is as hollow and ridiculous as love without sex”.

One wonders what the author would make of today’s world, where an increasing number of individuals are turning to their hands, minds, and devices for sexual satisfaction.