Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) are enabling increasingly complex intimate and sexual relationships with artificial erotic agents – or erobots. These agents possess enhanced natural language processing capabilities, making it challenging to discern them from human partners. Yet, limited research exists on the potential for humans to form intimate relationships with erobots that possess interactive capabilities indistinguishable from us. This study thus investigates whether humans can develop intimacy with partners perceived as either human or artificial. In a matchmaking scenario, participants were exposed to 10 responses generated by ChatGPT, utilizing a modified version of the Interpersonal Closeness Generation Task, also known as the “36 questions to fall in love.” We manipulated participants’ perception of whether the responses originated from a human or an artificial partner. We then assessed whether individuals could develop interpersonal closeness and erotic interest towards an artificial partner when they believed the answers came from a human. Join us at LSR 2023 to explore the intriguing question of whether one can fall in love with a machine!

After the tremendous growth and innovation in recent years of sexual wellness, and the COVID-19 pandemic acting as a catalyst for transformation, the sextech industry has well and truly entered mainstream conversations and shopping carts. 

But now, we’re about to witness an even more remarkable evolution.

Beyond the familiar territories of teledildonics and sexual wellness lies a new frontier. 

In this keynote we will dive into the world of deepfakes, where technology blurs the lines between reality and fantasy, raising intriguing questions about consent, authenticity, and the nature of desire. 

We’ll also delve into the realm of cyber heartbreak, exploring the emotional complexities that arise in the world of virtual companions.

Finally, we will look at the unlikely areas of opportunity and how sextech has entered the luxury good markets through a surprising avenue – sexual assault prevention. 

Join us as we navigate this fascinating and complex landscape, exploring the potential of this new wave of companies in the sextech industry.

According to the world health organization, sexual pleasure is a human right but many people with disabilities have trouble self-pleasuring due to a lack of accessible sexual devices and access to sexual education. The disabled population is widely ignored when it comes to sexual pleasure and the community lack education, empowerment, and access to assistive sexual devices for people of all gender identities, sexual experience levels, and abilities. Our panelists, with unique perspectives and experiences, will explore the intersection of technology, inclusivity, and sexual wellness

In the past two decades, the internet has perturbed youngsters’ sexual education through increased exposure to porn sites, social networking, video gaming, and open sourced information over the web, challenging traditional youth socialization on sexuality. In this talk, I will present my thesis research focusing on YouTubers catering to young people and underscore sexuality in their channels. This talk will inquire how sex educators on YouTube that cater to millions of global viewers construct their roles, professional identity, ethics and authority. Sex education on YouTube is an emergent role that affords youngsters a rich environment for acquiring informal theoretical and pragmatic knowledge. These platforms encompass a value system that rejects conservative taboos and mores and fosters liberal, open and sex-positive approaches to sex education. This talk can shed light on new avenues to forge ped agogical designs that appropriate new technologies and “fill the gap” in formal sex education. 

Technology often seems to drive us apart, straining our intimate connections with others. However, can we flip the narrative and leverage technology to find different ways to create and explore intimacy instead? This talk delves into the realm of digital performance—an innovative, technology-driven live art form—to examine how it can foster intimacy among audience and performers. By showcasing my own projects involving smartphones, virtual reality, and games, we will explore the potential of technology in nurturing meaningful human connections and see how art can help us criticize technology’s effect on us, while also envisioning a future where technology becomes a catalyst for deeper intimacy rather than a barrier.