Kofi King, Founder and CEO of Robotopia – a fictional company that sells autonomous robot companions – gives inspirational, evangelistic speeches, saying things like, How can we make beautiful sex? How can we make sex that is chemically, physics-ally, artistically, linguistically, and existentially inspiring? Dan Michaels wants the dirtiest dirty robot lady possible, but before he can get that companion, he must take Robo Rights 101 – because at a Robotopia Speed Dating evening, he informs a potential companion of all the many nasty things he will do to her which would violate the Robo Rights Act of 2028. College freshman Andrea Plover enjoys her solitary lifestyle eating ramen and watching aesthetically pleasing porn until a companion hottie comes into her life.Using speeches, customer service exchanges, and journal entries, Robotopia: Sex, Love, Robots ruminates on dating, sex, love, longing, loneliness, and intimacy in the vein of Haruki Murakami and André Aciman, but in the language of robotics. A fun, fast, and experimental read for fans of films such as Her (2013) featuring Scarlett Johansson and Ex Machina (2014) featuring Alicia Vikander, and fans of books such as David Ewing Duncan’s Talking to Robots: Tales from our Robot-Human Futures and Ian McEwan’s Machines Like Me. At its heart, Robotopia is a utopic work that uses companions as a means of bringing to light what makes us humans human: our ability to love.
