Would you date a robot? New report says millennials would

A new report suggests that over a quarter of 18-34 year-olds will feel it's normal to form friendships and even romantic relationships with robots in the future. Photo / Getty Images

As robots become an ever increasing part of our daily lives, humans could soon find love with the machines, according to a new report.

The report suggests that over a quarter of 18-34 year-olds will feel it's normal to form friendships and even romantic relationships with robots in the future instead of humans.

And it seems that men are more likely to embrace the bots, with the report indicating that males are three times more likely to form a relationship with a robot than women, reports Daily Mail.

The report was created by Paris-based Havas, and examined the future of artificial intelligence, and people's attitudes to the future of technology.

The findings were based on a survey of 12,000 people of mixed ages worldwide.

It found that in the UK, men were three times as likely to agree they could have a relationship with a robot in the future, compared to women.

And romantic relationships with bots will more common that you might think, with the report suggesting they could be taken up by as much as 27 per cent of 18-34 year olds.

Aside from robot-relationships, the report had several other predictions for the future.

The data suggests that men in the UK, men are also more likely than women to prefer their social media lives to their real ones, with nearly 20 per cent preferring the virtual world of social media.

Despite this growing connection to the online world for some, there was widespread consensus (70 per cent of respondents) that smartphones are weakening human bonds.

Yet it is younger people who are feeling the worst effects of this.

According to the study, younger people are more likely to feel depressed about their own lives after looking at other people's social media channels, with 42 per cent of 18-34 year olds reporting feeling depressed or unhappy after seeing other people's lives online.

Nigel Hughes, board director at Havas PR, said: "Filters and AR can, on the face of it, help improve people's perceptions of the world around them, yet our study reveals that nearly half (42 per cent) of 18-34 years olds felt unhappy about their own lives after comparing themselves to others on social media.

"That's compared to only 21 per cent of 35-54 year olds saying the same, suggesting we are not equipping young people with the emotional framework needed to process this virtual reality."

Another area of tension is the fact that 40 per cent of people aged between 18 and 34 are concerned that robots will take their jobs.

People aged 55 and over, meanwhile, were most likely to think AI will liberate humans from repetitive tasks, giving us more time to enjoy life.

The future of sex

A report earlier this year claims:

• By 2030, most people will have some form of virtual sex as casually as they browse porn today.
• By 2035 the majority of people will own sex toys that interact with virtual reality sex.
• "Sexbots" will start to appear in high-income, very wealthy households as soon as 2025.
• Sex with robots will be more popular than human-human sex in 2050.
• Love and the act of sex is set to become increasingly separate, with relationships increasingly becoming based on more than just sex.