Artificial Intimacy: Virtual friends, digital lovers and algorithmic matchmakers

People have long told machines what to do by pushing buttons. Now, with advances in technology, machines are pushing our buttons. In Artificial Intimacy, evolutionary biologist Rob Brooks takes us from the origins of human behaviour to the latest in artificially intelligent technologies, providing a fresh and original view of the very near future of human relationships. Sex dollbots, digital lovers, virtual friends and algorithmic matchmakers help us manage our feelings in a world of cognitive overload. Apps can sense when a user is falling in love, when they are fighting, and when they are likely to break up. These machines, the ‘artificial intimacies’, already learn and exploit human social needs. They are getting better and faster at what they do. How will humanity’s future unfold when our ancient, evolved minds and old-fashioned cultures collide with twenty-first-century technology?