A trailblazing inquiry into human love and relationships in the age of super-smart technology Technology is our new life partner. No longer confined to the sidelines, new interactive technologies like AI therapists, avatar friends, and robot assistants are ready to transform technology's role from basic tools of convenience to intimate elements of our social and emotional lives. This turn towards human-like technology signals the beginning of a new epoch in human history, a change already facing both excitement and resistance. Blending science, sociology, history, and psychology, Relationships 5.0 asks how recent technological developments cause us to think differently about our family lives, love affairs, and emotional needs. It argues that we are currently living through a technological paradigm shift similar in magnitude to the preceding agricultural, industrial, and informational revolutions in human history. Thanks to the convergence of the cognitive revolution (AI), the sensorial revolution (VR and AR), and the physical revolution (robots), technology can now fulfill emotional, intellectual, and physical needs that have until now been met by other humans. While many are still wary of human-technology companionship, Relationships 5.0 reveals that these novel interactions aren't as risky as we'd once thought, but can instead make our social and emotional lives richer and more diverse. Still, we must ask: What will the age of Relationships 5.0 look like? How should we prepare for such an age? Who might already be ready to embrace these changes, and why? Guiding readers away from fear and toward a new reality, Relationships 5.0 exposes the fundamental questions behind such essentials as companionship, trust, and love--and offers fascinating and revealing ideas about what the coming years will look like.

About the Author
Elyakim Kislev is Assistant Professor in the School of Public Policy and Government at the Hebrew University, specializing in minorities, social policy, relationships, and singles studies. He received the U.S. Department of State Fulbright Fellowship and the Award for Outstanding Fulbright Scholars.

Reviews
In Relationships 5.0, Elyakim Kislev guides the reader on a journey through world historical contexts of technological evolution and the innovations that came from those historic situational necessities. This book provides an important perspective, predicting an uncertain future where we must carefully consider how we design and depend on AI. It helps us realize that AI is not just a tool created in response to our needs for survival or a desire for entertainment, but also a projection of our own humanity. * Julie Carpenter, Research Fellow, Ethics and Emerging Sciences Group *
Relationships 5.0^ is a timely and readable survey of what the latest technologies mean for sex and personal relationships. The author steps back from the headlines and takes us on an ambitious journey through human history to consider the really big, interesting questions about how our relationship to technology is changing, as well as our relationships with each other. If someone wants a Fodor's guide to the next fifty years of sex and love, this book may be it. * Neil McArthur, Director, Center for Professional and Applied Ethics, University of Manitoba *
At last! A compelling book that takes a historical approach and discusses the challenging topic of emotional companionship, AI, VR and robots. This book is a must-have for anyone interested in relationships and, in particular, relationships with technologies. * Wendy Moyle, Program Director, Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University *
Readers of this book will not only learn the very long history of technological influences on human relationships, including communities and families, but also several critical issues about bonds between humans and highly advanced technologies such as AI, VR, and robots in near future. * Tatsuya Nomura, Professor, Faculty of Advanced Science and Technology, Ryukoku University *



Book Information
ISBN 9780197588253
Author Elyakim Kislev
Format Hardback
Page Count 272
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 436g
Dimensions(mm) 215mm * 150mm * 28mm