\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n \tRelated story \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tMake an Epic Family Charging Station: Tech That Keeps Everyone\u2019s Devices Powered Up & Organized\t\t<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p><\/div>\n \t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<\/article>\n \t \n\tIn 2024, futurists assumed<\/a> that our sex lives were on a fast track to the metaverse. We were bracing for a hyper-digital era of mixed reality roleplay, fully customizable AI partners, and Bluetooth toys<\/a> mapped to virtual fantasies. And while all of these products and ideas did <\/em>come to fruition, we\u2019re finding that the majority of us (myself included) don\u2019t actually want them.<\/p>\n \n\tAccording to LELO\u2019s survey, 60 percent of respondents admitted to using AI for intimate purposes<\/a>. People are using it to put their emotions into words (not horrible, and definitely understandable, but problematic as well), plan date nights, and resolve arguments<\/a> with their partners (ick). Another 18 percent admitted to passing off an AI-written message as their own. (If you\u2019re using ChatGPT to apologize for forgetting an anniversary, we need to talk.)\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tThis oversaturation is what\u2019s causing the backlash, and I honestly couldn\u2019t be happier. Maybe there\u2019s still time to steer this ship in the right direction \u2014 or has it sunk already?<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cAI has quickly moved from the logistical edges of relationships (e.g., planning a date or constructing a text) into the emotional interior of relationships (e.g., resolving conflict, articulating vulnerable emotions),\u201d LELO sexpert and certified sex therapist Casey Tanner<\/a> tells SheKnows.<\/p>\n \n\tOne of the most surprising (worrisome?) takeaways from the data is that the deeper we let AI into our relationships, the less we actually experience those relationships ourselves.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThe survey highlights the possibility that intimacy itself could become less embodied and increasingly cognitive as relationships become surrounded by prompts, analysis, scripts, and metrics,\u201d Tanner continues.<\/p>\n \n\tSo, what happens when intimacy becomes cheap, scripted, and ever-present? (I think you know.) Unmediated, messy human connection becomes the new, ultimate luxury. We\u2019re talking about heated<\/em>, passionate makeout sessions with strangers you meet IRL and not caring where your phone is.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWhat technology cannot easily reproduce may therefore become more valuable, thus forming a new sort of social order around intimacy,\u201d Tanner says. \u201cAs AI makes a certain kind of connection more accessible, AI-less connection may come to be viewed as more elite or exclusive.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tFuturist and report author Tracey Follows<\/a> suggests that \u201csituated intimacy\u201d \u2014 experiences that are private, embodied, and unrecorded \u2014 will help shape\u00a0 the future, though tech will still have its place.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cSituated intimacy is not anti-digital,\u201d writes Follows. \u201cIt is not a fantasy of going back. It is a way of rediscovering the messy complexity of human connection in a way that is not immediately captured, interpreted, stored, upgraded, or performed.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tIt may start with \u201csmall refusals,\u201d like phone-free bedrooms, offline dating, and spaces where people pay not for more connection, but for less mediation.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tHowever, there is an issue of privilege (as always). Not everyone has the access or resources to claim this time \u2014 the most expensive thing a person can have in a country where working yourself to death is expected and healthcare costs as much as a rent payment.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThe ability to claim privacy, leisure time and uninterrupted space have always been shaped by access to money, work, caregiving and housing,\u201d Tanner says. \u201cAs AI-mediated intimacy becomes cheaper and more normalized, private, tech-free experiences may become something that only people with enough control over their time and environment can reliably protect.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThere\u2019s a lot more to uncover in the report, which you can read in full on LELO\u2019s website<\/a>. But if there\u2019s one immediate takeaway, it\u2019s this: If you want to protect your sex life and romantic relationships from becoming just another data point, you have to actively choose the friction<\/em>. Keep your phone out of the bedroom. Allow yourselves to be awkward, unscripted, and entirely unavailable to the algorithm. In other words, log TF off and get off.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n![\"Charging](\"https:\/\/www.sheknows.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-sheknows-2020\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\")
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