China, sex toys driven by artificial intelligence are arriving
Artificial intelligence pushes sex in traditionally prudish China, which produces 70% of the sex toys used in the world, but he always has a certain reticence in addressing the topic. Yet among the traditional vibrators, dolls and bondage equipment, an exhibition of adult products triumphs in Shanghai with a new trend teasing visitors: the sex toys equipped with artificial intelligence. European and American brands already offer products that allow you to have long-distance sex or even get closer to a fantasy worthy of a science fiction film: sex with robots. “The use of artificial intelligence has become more popular in the last couple of years, but we are still in the early stages.” Hannes Hultman, sales director for Europe and pioneer of “teledildonics”, i.e. the use of technology to imitate human sexual interactions. One of its flagship products is a masturbator which, thanks to artificial intelligence, can synchronize with a pornographic film.
It can therefore imitate the movements of the actors on the screen and reproduce the sensations. The company has also launched erotic chat software that allows artificial intelligence to take control of a sex toy: “You create your own virtual girlfriend and ask her to interact with you.” The Beijing company Sistalk Technology also offers, through its application, to entrust the control of a sex toy to a “girlfriend” created by artificial intelligence.
Young Chinese, who have a higher income and higher welfare requirements than their parents, are profoundly changing the market: “We are trying to change the mentality of our potential customers and make these objects less pornographic” says a seller . The Sistalk application also works as a classic social network, where users share their interests and can also have sex online by controlling each other’s sex toys. “It’s a new trend that is developing in Europe”, says Malgorzata Zasada, of the Oninder company “in Asia and China it is not yet so popular, but things are changing and I think it will be a success”.
For the moment, however, the number of people affected remains low: the Chinese application Sistalk, for example, only has around 500 users, a small number compared to the Chinese population, but China and Asia-Pacific in general are considered markets of the future because here the vision of sexuality has evolved significantly in recent years. Another revolution is the much greater consideration given to female pleasure, says Cola, of the company BeU, a brand that produces sex toys only for women. One of the vibrators exhibited at the Shanghai fair should be able to predict ovulation by measuring internal temperature or even help strengthen the pelvic floor muscles. Others would be able to detect when their user reaches orgasm and remember the type of pulse that allowed them to get there. “The technological aspect, the artificial intelligence, everything is developing very quickly,” says Hannes Hultman of Svakom. “It will be very interesting to see where this all takes us,” though ethical questions remain when it comes to privacy and artificial intelligence.