Not that sexbots aren’t unpredictable and mysterious. An owner can program them to be unpredictable and mysterious! They could be reprogrammed to have different personalities, thus providing psychological variety. One will be able to reprogram them for different looks, providing physical variety. Finally, one will be able to reprogram their actions, so things never get boring in the bedroom.
Indeed, this takes us nearer and nearer to the rub. “Surprises,” writes Levy, “add spark to a relationship, and it might therefore prove necessary to program robots with a varying level of imperfection in order to maximize their owner’s relationship satisfaction.” Robots are replicable, programmable, dependable, and immortal (because they are replaceable). If a robot were standing there oblivious to a grenade in its midst, we would not at all feel the need to throw ourselves on the grenade. We can get another, after all.

The understanding of love that informs Levy’s book and the modernization of sex is this: Love is sex, or love is enjoying time together with a second self who complies with our will (and may anticipate our will). A robot can accomplish both of these things.

The “beloved” programs the sexbot to “love” the “beloved.” Programming may be a struggle, but the relationship with a sexbot is not a struggle.