At the Berlin Cybrothel, artificial intelligence equips AI sex dolls with conversation skills. How well does it work, and will AI play a role in providing sexual gratification in the future?
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00:00In Berlin's first cyber-brothel you can interact with an AI-powered sex doll.
00:06I'm going to find out what that's all about.
00:08Don't worry, you won't see any explicit material of me.
00:11Let's go.
00:13The Cy-Brothel is a business renting out sex dolls and rooms on an hourly basis,
00:18anonymously through a website.
00:20I can even speak to the dolls using AI.
00:25I meet Matthias Metterner, who trained the AI system.
00:28He guides me around the Cy-Brothel. I would have been a bit overwhelmed otherwise.
00:32What would you like us to do together?
00:36Let's explore every touch and sensation together.
00:39How do we start?
00:40To be honest, I was surprised that the conversation went so well,
00:43and she was rather straightforward too.
00:45But there were little pauses that threw me off a little bit and her lips were not moving.
00:49But I can really imagine that conversation with a doll like this could work in the future.
00:54Matthias knows the AI system still has room for improvement.
00:58It always depends on how much people are willing to get into it.
01:04But it does excite a lot of people.
01:06Just the thought of being able to speak to an AI system whilst having sex with a sex doll.
01:15The silicon skin feels pretty realistic.
01:17Some dolls even heat up to body temperature.
01:22I can also use VR goggles while touching the doll.
01:25The VR experience doesn't feel like the real world to me,
01:28but I think the haptic feedback makes the whole experience more intense.
01:34That's crazy. It really feels real in a way.
01:39But no matter how realistic they might be, they're still sex dolls.
01:43They might be called sex robots sometimes, but these dolls can't move on their own.
01:48And it would be too dangerous during sex.
01:51But Cybrothel founder Philipp Fusenegger thinks about what the future of robot sex might hold.
01:58In the future, we won't just have robots to clean.
02:01We'll also be having sex with them.
02:03The same goes for AIs.
02:05They won't just write our emails.
02:07We'll have dirty talk with them.
02:09The American approach tends to shut this down, saying it's explicit.
02:15I don't think that's right.
02:17We should have a dialogue and establish rules to ensure these role-playing games are consensual.
02:24I've honestly never thought about the issue of consensual sex between humans and machines.
02:30But first, an AI needs to be developed that can discuss sexual topics.
02:35Right now, the Cybrothel uses an American AI language model that blocks a lot of terms.
02:41That's why Matthias Mettener has decided to train his own model,
02:45storing data anonymously from conversations with user consent.
02:54We'd like to develop the first sex-positive, queer feminist language model.
03:01What I mean is a model without the current restrictions.
03:06If you ask ChatGPT to give you a list of sex shops in Berlin in order to buy sex toys or lubricant,
03:12the answer will be, I'm not allowed, it violates my terms.
03:17The goal is to create an AI model for all kinds of fantasies.
03:21Well, that was really interesting.
03:23Not only because the Cybrothel is a place where people actually have sex with AI dolls,
03:28but because the makers of it are asking some questions that are really relevant for our near future.