Now that we have intelligent lightbulbs, doorbells, refrigerators, and more, it was only a matter of time before our most primal and intimate lives became smarter through artificial intelligence. Since sextech was allowed to exhibit at CES 2020 among the health and wellness vendors instead of denied entry or tucked away in the back as in years past, technology intended to augment the human sexual experience might just be on the verge of going mainstream. As more and more people invite artificial intelligence into their bedrooms and most intimate experiences, let's review the possibilities as well as perils that might bring. Creators of science fiction have imagined a future where human-like sex robots rule human sexual experience. However, sextech is more than just sex bots.

The Daily Star's FREE newsletter is spectacular! A groundbreaking sex robot with three faces and multiple personalities is set to be released, the Daily Star can reveal. RealDoll, a company based in San Marcos, California, the US, designs a range of models with advanced artificial intelligence [AI] capabilities. Its elite sex robots are equipped with X-mode, an integrated system that allows them to carry out conversations and form their own personalities. At the moment, users can preset certain characteristics and shape their interactions with the dolls.

Last year, CNET traveled to San Marcos, California, for an early, behind-the-scenes look at a new generation of artificially intelligent sex robots from Abyss Creations, maker of the popular "RealDolls" line of customizable sex dolls. Now, customers can expect to start receiving those same sexbots within the next month. So says Abyss Creations founder and chief designer Matthew McMullen in a recent video interview with a RealDoll enthusiast and Harmony beta tester who goes by "Brick Dollbanger." In the interview, McMullen says fully equipped AI sex robots should start shipping in September, which matches what a spokesperson for Abyss Creations subsidiary Realbotix told me earlier this week. McMullen also said putting the final touches on his company's new creations has proven to be "a little more difficult than we anticipated."

This post is part of Mashable's Masturbation Week. May is National Masturbation Month, so we're celebrating by exploring the many facets of self-love. Size matters -- at least when it comes to sex toys. If you're looking to treat yourself in the bedroom there are millions of sex toys to choose from, but one of the greatest things about masturbating is you're totally in control. You decide how to pleasure yourself, which means you have the option to go big -- like, really really big -- if you so choose.

CES 2018 day two was interrupted by a two-hour power cut. It was as ridiculous as you'd imagine: The world's biggest tech show meets a severe lack of electricity. Rest assured, we had time on either side to delve deeper into this year's biggest incoming tech. Possibly the worst thing that could happen at a tech show: Power went down across several halls at the Las Vegas Convention Center during this morning's CES at 11:15 PT. Multiple booths suffered power outages, including swaths of TVs at LG.

Sex robots have become a fast-growing field of development, with Abyss Creations' 'Harmony' RealDoll among the most famous to date. And now, it looks like Harmony is getting a sister. On stage at CES for Engadget's After Hours show, creator Matt McMullen debuted a new personality named Solana – by switching the sexbot's life-like face for another. McMullen also revealed he is working on developing male sex bots along with the potential for more gender variation beyond that, and cleared up some misconceptions about how the integration of male anatomy may come to fruition. It looks like the Harmony sex robot is getting a sister.

If you've ever wondered what a life-sized mechanical sex toy called Harmony looks like reciting the lyrics to Thriller with all the passion of Alexa ordering the shopping, then The Sex Robots Are Coming (Channel 4) has got it covered. This fascinatingly bleak documentary explored the question of just how close humans and machines are going to get, and looks at the burgeoning sex robot industry, which one day hopes to create life-like rubber women who will talk and show pre-programmed emotions, but only if they are more obedient, passive and pliable than the irritatingly free-willed real thing. This was by turns hilarious and upsetting, as perplexing as it was educational. The Californian RealDoll company is on a quest to make a realistic sex robot. It already sells RealDolls for people to have their wicked way with, and though it has an eye-watering male model, 80% of customers want a female doll.

Come January, the "Westworld" concept of lifelike sex robots will get one step closer. That's when a San Marcos company will unveil Harmony, an anatomically correct sex doll with a patented animatronic talking head with programmable personality and memory. News of creator Matt McMullen's latest invention -- he's been making lifelike silicone sex dolls for 20 years -- has created international media interest and a firestorm of criticism from ethicists and futurists who see a dark side to a sex doll that becomes more "human" with each technological innovation. One critic worries that the doll's artificial intelligence app could be hacked to make it kill its owner (like the vengeance meted out by sex robots in the film "Ex Machina" and TV show "Westworld"). And women's advocates say owners could realistically rehearse plans for violent sexual acts with the interactive dolls.

Recently, a guy who goes by the screen-name numbCruncher posted something he called "Real Doll Economics" to the MGTOW forums -- "MGTOW" standing for Men Going Their Own Way, and consisting of an online community of heterosexual males who've chosen a lifestyle that avoids legal and romantic entanglements with women at all costs. In it, numbCruncher argued that one way in which to Go His Own Way was to replace women with sex dolls and robots such as the life-like(ish) RealDoll. The responses were near unanimous in their approval. Given the brand affinity, I was curious if the people at RealDoll were aware that a nonzero portion of their consumer base views their sexy cyborgs as offering more than the occasional sexual release -- they're ready to take them on as life partners (and as essentially a replacement for all human women). "I've heard about MGTOW," confirms Matt McMullen, the 48-year-old RealDoll CEO, who explains that many of his customers have decided -- for one reason or another -- to forgo a relationship with women, a decision he says he totally understands. "When you got married 100 years ago, you stayed married and were loyal.

Recently, a guy who goes by the screen-name numbCruncher posted something he called "Real Doll Economics" to the MGTOW forums -- "MGTOW" standing for Men Going Their Own Way, and consisting of an online community of heterosexual males who've chosen a lifestyle that avoids legal and romantic entanglements with women at all costs. In it, numbCruncher argued that one way in which to Go His Own Way was to replace women with sex dolls and robots such as the life-like(ish) RealDoll. The average cost of a marriage in the US is 26,444 dollars. Add up miscellaneous expenses and a conservative estimate of a failed marriage begins at 50,000 dollars. The doll will never get old and saggy.