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12 October 2018

Senior lecturer Kate Devlin publishes new book Turned On: Science, Sex and Robots

Dr Kate Devlin, Senior Lecturer in Social and Cultural Artificial Intelligence at King's College London, has published her new book Turned On: Science, Sex and Robots

Turned On: Science, Sex and Robots
Turned On: Science, Sex and Robots

Dr Kate Devlin, Senior Lecturer in Social and Cultural Artificial Intelligence at King’s College London, has published her new book Turned On: Science, Sex and Robots, which explores how the emerging and future development of sexual companion robots might affect us and the society in which we live. 

Turned On delves into the social changes and psychological effects arising from emerging technologies and the issues raised around gender politics, diversity, surveillance and violence. The book covers the history of the artificial sexual companion and goes on to explore the 'modern' robot, twentieth century sci-fi portrayals of robot slaves and the psychological urge to create sentient machines. 

“I never set out to become an expert on such risqué forms of technology” said Devlin, in her latest interview for the Evening Standard, “but the book is not just about sex. It’s about the relationship between intimacy and technology.” 

Devlin, who was recently named in The Progress 1000: London’s most influential people 2018 – SciTech, is optimistic about the possibilities for increasing happiness through sex-tech. She believes, “the future of intimacy is a network of connected people, who want, as humans have always wanted, to be together.” 

Turned On: Science, Sex and Robots by Kate Devlin is published on 18 October. Click here to pre-order now.