Name: Moray Lyle McIntosh's review of Sex Robots & Vegan Meat by Jenny Kleeman
Item: Sex Robots & Vegan Meat
Rating: 5
Author: Moray Lyle McIntosh

Jenny Kleeman

‘A tour of the lurid fringes of the tech world’ – The Times ‘Entertaining . . . like Louis Theroux channelling Margaret Atwood’ – New Statesman What if we could have babies without having to bear children, eat meat without killing animals, have the perfect sexual relationship without compromise or choose the time of our painless death? To find out, Jenny Kleeman has interviewed a sex robot, eaten a priceless lab-grown chicken nugget, watched foetuses growing in plastic bags and attended members-only meetings where people learn how to kill themselves. Many of the people Kleeman has met say they are finding solutions to problems that have always defined and constricted humankind. But what truly motivates them? What kind of person devotes their life to building a death machine? What kind of customer is desperate to buy an artificially intelligent sex doll – and why? Who is campaigning against these advances, and how are they trying to stop them? And what about the many unintended consequences such inventions will inevitably unleash? Sex Robots & Vegan Meat is not science fiction. It’s not about what might happen one day – it’s about what is happening right now, and who is making it happen. In the end, it asks a simple question: are we about to change what it means to be human . . . for ever?

Adventures at the Frontier of Birth, Food, Sex & Death

Sex Robots & Vegan Meat

Jessica Sutherland 

What if we could have babies without having to bear children, eat meat without killing animals, have the perfect sexual relationship without compromise or choose the time of our painless death? To find out, Jenny Kleeman has interviewed a sex robot, eaten a priceless lab-grown chicken nugget, watched foetuses growing in plastic bags and attended members-only meetings where people learn how to kill themselves. Many of the people Kleeman has met say they are finding solutions to problems that have always defined and constricted humankind. But what truly motivates them? What kind of person devotes their life to building a death machine? What kind of customer is desperate to buy an artificially intelligent sex doll and why? Who is campaigning against these advances, and how are they trying to stop them? And what about the many unintended consequences such inventions will inevitably unleash? Sex Robots and Vegan Meat is not science fiction. Its not about what might happen one day - its about what is happening right now, and who is making it happen. In the end, it asks a simple question: are we about to change what it means to be human for ever?

Adventures at the Frontier of Birth, Food, Sex and Death

Sex Robots and Vegan Meat

Moray Lyle McIntosh

Extensively researched and thoroughly considered, Kleeman investigates some fundamentals of human existence, sex, food, reproduction/pregnancy and death. She looks into the proposed technologies that claim to be the solutions, visiting tech companies, entrepreneurs and interviewing potential consumers. The results are fascinating and often frightening. The common denominator is the idea that technology can provide quick fixes to issues deeply embedded in our culture's and societies. Far from solving these problems, new technologies have the potential to exacerbate then or create new ones by failing to deal with the root causes. Inequality looms large, often expressed in misogyny and wealth inequality. Sex robots, artificial wombs and 3D printed death machines are pay of venture capital schemes, designed for profit and are only thing veiled by altruistic claims. It's a story of ego, dominated by (often) straight, white men. The worry, as Kleeman is right to raise, is scientists, business people, investors and inventors are so often caught up in whether they CAN do something, the ethics and consequences of whether they SHOULD are left behind. It's a brilliant piece of writing that delves into difficult topics with interest and asks the difficult questions. It gets very dark in places but Kleeman's writing is clear and lively and well-balanced and manages to be entertaining as well as informative.

JENNY. KLEEMAN

SEX ROBOTS & VEGAN MEAT

Karolina

Provocative, funny and brilliantly reported, join Jenny Kleeman as she meets the strange people who are creating our future and changing what it means to be human today.

Jessica Sutherland &
Sex Robots & Vegan Meat by Jenny Kleeman

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Sex Robots & Vegan Meat by Jenny Kleeman