“This was a book club read, embarrassing to look for at Border's (refusing to ask for help) and embarrassing to pay for (wondering what the cashier was thinking of this particular book choice) and often I've wondered what people think of it being on my shelf. Well, not anymore. The book is educational and interesting. The book reviews the progress in computer science which is exponential to say the least, from the huge computer that took up and entire room over 50 years ago (approx.) to small, fast microprocessors that are easily affordable today (and are considered commonplace) to the incredible advances in computer software. It was said many years ago that a computer could never beat a human at chess but in 2005 (approx.) the poo-bah ( ~.^) of chess was beaten by a chess software program and the poo-bah called it a "genious". The program could think ahead up to 200 moves. The book also explains that software already exists that can learn as it goes, robots exist that can anticipate its dancing partners next move and accommodate without stepping on toes, some that serve tea, some as pets, and sensory programs that enable robotic fingers to adjust to how delicately or how hard to touch a human test subject by understanding and adjusting to the humans response to it. The list goes on and on. I'm not smart enough to know how these things work but I'm glad that there are people in the world that are. I believe that life- like robots that can be socialized, interact with us as humans do in all ways, is plausible when one considers how far we've come and that it may happen within our lifetime isn't so outlandish. The book also explores human psychology and sexuality: why we fall in love, what makes us fall in love, why we have sex. Historically it reviews societal changes regarding sex and this section was quite an eye opener moving backward, well past what has been in the news in the last few years. I was utterly and completely astonished at the beliefs that existed and treatment of certain individuals that practiced such things mentioned. We've definitely come a long way, baby and we're better for it. The book also, given the title, explores the possibility of love, sex, loving and caring relationships with robots that are so human-like that it's difficult to tell the difference (the author expects the first robots like this to begin showing up in 2020 and get only better from there). Given the exponential advancement in technology, given the societal changes that have occurred over time, it all is acceptable and believable to me. It does seem like a natural progression. The book does not imply humans will not prefer humans anymore, just that robots will serve a purpose in the future and not just the "sexbot" purpose. It also discusses the human response to technology, computers and the humanoid. The author hit the mark I think, on how we love the technology of today: cell phones, computers, internet access, digital cameras, pda's, etc. This is the foundation of robot acceptance. The book was easy to read, very interesting and well worth it. I'm an avid Battlestar Galactica fan and now having read this book, I can understand the Cylons so much better. I love sci-fi and I whole-heartedly recommend the book. If nothing else, you learn a great deal about humans from reading it. But I'll be one of the first in line to get my humanoid and I'll order him up to look like James McAvoy. *smile*””
