You can do almost anything using technology now: book a bikini wax, find a date, order pizza and wine to you door without having to leave the house (welcome to our Friday evening plans until March) but one place we probably didn't need technology to get involved? Between the sheets.
Sex toy brand Lelo has predicted that Artificial Intelligence is one of the biggest sex trends set to takeover in 2019. The Swedish brand claims '2019 will see the beginnings of an artificial intelligence revolution in sex.' But what does that even mean? Alexa-style vibrators that can turn the lights on and off and make Amazon orders while we're using them? Dildos that can answer the Whatsapp group message?
Basically, these toys will collect data about your sexual preferences in the same way that Facebook, Whatsapp or Instagram might mine your data to service suspiciously targeted adverts (like serving you a tent advert roughly three minutes after you had a passing thought about going to Glastonbury). 'Sexual devices of all manner will soon be able to learn the patterns and idiosyncrasies of your pleasure and tailor themselves to you personally.' Lelo said in the report.
In the field of vibrators: we could soon be encountering toys that 'learn' by algorithm what you enjoy in bed. For example: do you enjoy a bit of dirty chat in the bedroom? The new era of vibrator will pick up on this, in the same way that a human partner might, and over time will 'adjust it's performance to find out exactly what it should say to you before you know it yourself'.
Creeped out yet? It gets weirder. 2019 is predicted to be the year of the smart sex doll. The blow-up things with blonde wigs largely used for comedy purposes, but these ones will be way more lifelike with textured silicone skin, their own articulating spines and a normal range of motion. They'll also be using biometric data to learn about what turns you on: the dolls will collect information like the pattern of heartbeats and breathing when they are being used to tailor a personalized experience for the user.
Of course, smart sex toys are nothing new. Bluetooth-connected vibrators have been around for a while allowing users to connect to, and control devices remotely with apps. Although it's also been proven that they're easy to hack through Bluetooth - a practice known as 'screwdriving' and the question of consent around sex toy hacking has even led to speculation that there could be a rise in smart sex-toy based sexual assaults.
What could the ramifications of data-collecting dildos be? Let's hope we're not about to experience the Cambridge Analytica of sex.