Natural History of the Present
Rob Brooks – Evolutionary Biologist & Author
Posts about the book.
I recently encountered a man who goes by the rather unusual name of Davecat, and who describes himself using the even more unusual labels of ‘robosexual’ and ‘iDollator’. He prefers the company of life-size dolls over human partners. He’s done plenty…
It started with humans pushing machines’ buttons. Now they are pushing ours. When the COVID-19 pandemic sent so many people into work-from-home isolation, it funneled much of our social interaction onto the internet. Children learn via Zoom classrooms, colleagues meet on Microsoft…
At the moment, it seems, the media can’t get enough of sex robots. I have done a dozen or so interviews this month already, ahead of my book Artificial Intimacy: digital lovers, virtual friends and algorithmic matchmakers. Even though I argue…
First published in The Conversation under the title Sex bots, virtual friends, VR lovers: tech is changing the way we interact, and not always for the better Twenty-first century technologies such as robots, virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (AI) are…
Some of the ways AI is hijacking our emotional lives What happens when our evolved human minds and old-fashioned cultures encounter the technologies of the 21st Century? Specifically, I mean virtual reality, robotics, and — most important — artificial intelligence.…
My second book is to be published by NewSouth Books (Australia and New Zealand) on 1 May 2021. Columbia University Press are publishing it in the remainder of the English-Speaking World.
Here are some snippets from blurbs and from independent reviews, together with information on places to preorder or buy the book.
What happens when computers know people better than they know themselves? Science is an algorithm. To date, it might well be the most effective and useful algorithm — or family of algorithms — that humanity ever invented. Ever-improving methods for…
Over the last few months I have tried something new: writing advice. Now as you know, the worst kind of vice is advice, but fools rush in where the Devil (in the guise of John Milton) feared to tread. Enough…
I just received these pictures from Claire Booth, one of the amazing organisers behind the 2012 Queenlsland Literary Awards, from the evening of the awards ceremony on 4 September. I realised I haven’t yet posted the news that Sex, Genes & Rock…
Rob Brooks has several talks coming up – all related to Sex, Genes & Rock ‘n’ Roll and the relevance of evolution to modern life. 9 February 10am – Grand Rounds at Sydney Children’s Hospital 13 February 2pm – Weight…