The Scary Future Of Robot Sex & Artificial Love - Roanne van Voorst - #782

**Chris Williamson** (0:00)
Hello everybody, welcome back to the show. My guest today is Roanne van Voorst. She's an anthropologist, researcher and an author. Given that many people are already struggling to find partners in the modern world, what does the future of love have in store? Is it AI girlfriends, rentable cuddle partners and sex robots, or a return to something more traditional? Expect to learn what is happening with modern sexuality, what the future of sex work may look like, whether polyamory is going to become more popular, why so many young people aren't having as much sex as they used to, what it's like to go to a sex doll brothel, what a better definition of love is, what it's like to be in a virtual relationship, and much more. You might have heard me say on a podcast recently that hold luggage is a Psi-op meant to keep you poor and late. I jest a little, but not actually that much. You do not need hold luggage if you have a brilliantly designed backpack and carry on, and the 20 litre travel pack backpack from Nomatic is the best that I've ever found. It is an absolute game changer. The legitimate difference in the quality of your life when you have a world-class backpack is pretty hard to describe. They are beautifully designed, not over-engineered, and will literally last you a lifetime because they have a lifetime guarantee. Best of all, you can return or exchange any product within 30 days for any reason. So, right now, you can get a 20% discount and see everything that I use and recommend by going to nomatic.com/modernwisdom and using the code MW20 at checkout. That's nomatic.com/modernwisdom and MW20 at checkout. I've been loving my cold plunge and sauna from the team over at Plunge. I literally use them every single week because the benefits of hot and cold contrast therapy make me feel fantastic. I have more energy during the day, sleep better at night and recover faster after hard workouts. Plunge's Evolve collection includes four brand new offerings made to fit your lifestyle, space and goals. The new Plunge Pure Pro Chiller uses state-of-the-art technology to filter water and chill it. At the same time, the all-new Plunge Air is amazing if you're looking for a lightweight, space-efficient option. You can connect it to the Plunge Pop-Up for maximum portability and affordability or go with the XL Plunge Pro for their signature style. Best of all, they offer a 30-day return policy so you can buy it and try it and get cold for 29 days and if you do not like it for any reason, you can send it back. Head to plunge.com/modernwisdom and use the code MW150 for $150 off any purchase. That's plunge.com/modernwisdom and MW150. A checkout. This episode is brought to you by Surfshark VPN. Protect your browsing online and get access to the entire world's Netflix library for less than the price of a cup of coffee per month. If you use a public wifi network like a cafeteria or a library or an airport regularly, that internet admin can see all of the data going back and forth between your computer and the internet. Your internet service provider is selling your data to companies that target you with ads and phishing websites are trying to steal everything from you at all times. All of this is fixed with a VPN and it is available across unlimited devices. So it protects your phone, your iPad, your laptop and even your smart TV and it's got a 30 day money back guarantee so you can buy it and try it for 29 days. And if you do not like it, they will give you your money back. Head to surfshark.deals slash modern wisdom for an exclusive discount plus that 30 day money back guarantee. That's surfshark.deals slash modern wisdom. But now, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Roanne van Voorst.
You say that you delved into the frontiers of human sexuality with anthropological fieldwork. What's that mean?

**Roanne van Voorst** (4:02)
Well, I'm a futures anthropologist, which I think is probably the weirdest profession in the world, because anthropologists, typically we do ethnography amongst the people that we study, which you can't really do if you study futures like I do. But what I can do is go to those places in the world and to those people in the world where already you can see glimpses of the future. So that's what I did also with this research project. I went to sex brothels where there's only dolls, no more humans, or I tried to befriend an AI. Those were the things I did. So yeah, it ended up in a book.

**Chris Williamson** (4:39)