Dream Lovers

Digital technology is changing how people want things, and the most consequential shift may be happening inside desire itself. Every new wave of tools carries the political assumptions of the people who build it, and those tools shape what comes next. Here, the drives and cravings that make us who we are are being steered, measured and reworked into game-like systems that serve economic and political goals. The effects reach well beyond romance, touching friendships, eating habits and even how we regard politicians.

The book examines the ways digital systems are rebuilding the economy of desire at its foundations, in ways earlier generations could not have pictured. Its subjects range from sex robots and smart contraceptives to fitness trackers, virtual reality simulators, artificial intelligence and matchmaking algorithms. It treats these developments as parts of a larger love industry that sits at the centre of the planned smart city and the everyday social fabric.

The book considers what these emerging technologies mean for love, desire, work and capitalism more broadly, and what kind of future they point toward.