DANGER, WILL ROBINSON: Don’t have sex with robots, expert warns
Engineer-inventor Douglas Hines poses with his company's "True Companion" sex robot, Roxxxy, in 2010.
Having sex with robots is a really bad idea, according to ethicists.
As New Jersey-based True Companion gets ready to launch the world's first sex robot with artificial intelligence by the end of the year, a group of experts on Tuesday mounted a campaign with a grim warning: the bots could encourage and intensify the objectification of women and children.
“We think that the creation of such robots will contribute to detrimental relationships between men and women, adults and children, men and men and women and women,” U.K.-based ethicist and Campaign Against Sex Robot leader Kathleen Richardson told the BBC.
At first, Richardson, who also works at De Montfort University as a robot anthropologist, thought the robots were innocuous.
“When I first started looking into the subject I thought, ‘oh sex robots. That's harmless and perhaps these robots would reduce demand for real women and children,’” She told NBC News. “But then as I researched the subject more I found that the opposite was true — that rather than reduce the objectification of women, children and also men and transgender people, these robots would contribute and reinforce their position in society (as objects).”
The robots — basically sex dolls with artificial intelligence — haven’t hit shelves yet: A company called True Companion has promised to start selling the “world’s first sex robot,” name Roxxxy, later this year. Roxxxy is set to sell for about $7,000.
Fembots fron Austin Powers.
Chief executive Douglas Hines said the robots are not about abuse and objectification — and not entirely about sex. Rather they offer companionship and emotionally intimacy, too, he told BBC. A robot can converse with its owner and will be able to pick up on his or her likes and dislikes.
"We are not supplanting the wife or trying to replace a girlfriend. This is a solution for people who are between relationships or someone who has lost a spouse,” he said. “The physical act of sex will only be a small part of the time you spend with a sex robot — the majority of time will be spent socializing and interacting.”
Still, the ethicists worry that the robots will become a substitute for human interaction all together.
“Introducing sex robots that could replace partners is the extreme of this trend, where we start to objectify our human relationships,” said Erik Billing, another Campaign Against Sex Robots member.
Engineer-inventor Douglas Hines poses with his company's "True Companion" sex robot, Roxxxy, in 2010.
Having sex with robots is a really bad idea, according to ethicists.
As New Jersey-based True Companion gets ready to launch the world's first sex robot with artificial intelligence by the end of the year, a group of experts on Tuesday mounted a campaign with a grim warning: the bots could encourage and intensify the objectification of women and children.
“We think that the creation of such robots will contribute to detrimental relationships between men and women, adults and children, men and men and women and women,” U.K.-based ethicist and Campaign Against Sex Robot leader Kathleen Richardson told the BBC.
At first, Richardson, who also works at De Montfort University as a robot anthropologist, thought the robots were innocuous.
“When I first started looking into the subject I thought, ‘oh sex robots. That's harmless and perhaps these robots would reduce demand for real women and children,’” She told NBC News. “But then as I researched the subject more I found that the opposite was true — that rather than reduce the objectification of women, children and also men and transgender people, these robots would contribute and reinforce their position in society (as objects).”
The robots — basically sex dolls with artificial intelligence — haven’t hit shelves yet: A company called True Companion has promised to start selling the “world’s first sex robot,” name Roxxxy, later this year. Roxxxy is set to sell for about $7,000.
Fembots fron Austin Powers.
Chief executive Douglas Hines said the robots are not about abuse and objectification — and not entirely about sex. Rather they offer companionship and emotionally intimacy, too, he told BBC. A robot can converse with its owner and will be able to pick up on his or her likes and dislikes.
"We are not supplanting the wife or trying to replace a girlfriend. This is a solution for people who are between relationships or someone who has lost a spouse,” he said. “The physical act of sex will only be a small part of the time you spend with a sex robot — the majority of time will be spent socializing and interacting.”
Still, the ethicists worry that the robots will become a substitute for human interaction all together.
“Introducing sex robots that could replace partners is the extreme of this trend, where we start to objectify our human relationships,” said Erik Billing, another Campaign Against Sex Robots member.