Slashdot Mirror
What Sex is Your Robot?
Ant writes "Technology Review has an article about how the more robots interact with humans, the more important their apparent gender becomes."
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"...this is gonna be the best prom ever!"
...that i see word "sex" on slashdot. For a second i thought that we geeks are finally getting lives :) But only for a second - then i read the entire subject.
is a hermaphrodite, male on one side, female on the other.
It's another kind of Transformer. More than meets the eye.
This way I can expand my sexual horizon.
No coffee, "sex" and "robot" in the same short title. You know you thought it too.
...it gets a little bitchy sometimes, but never gets sexually agressive around my wife.
This way to the egress...
by the inability of the quips to come up with any good material in the first minutes after it was posted.
The Roomba, of course, is that clever little house-cleaning robot
Must be a chick.
My robot is an arm and hand only. And since it doesn't have fingernails, there is no way to tell if its a girl or boy.
Honestly, as robot builder I find this a little boring. It has little to do with robotics. You can take the same robot and give it a different costume and maybe a new voice to change it's sex... big deal.
Slashdot Syndrome: the sudden, extreme urge to correct someone in order to validate one's self.
... because if a household robot is apparently female, the feminists will complain!
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
Wonder if we're going to see the Robot counterpart to "Furries" in the future? What would they call themselves?
Maybe they already exist.
GROUP HUG!
Belief is the currency of delusion.
The implications of which are increasingly important as we draw ever closer to a future of sex droids.
I don't want to offend anyone, but I'd really love a gay robot. That way I don't have to strain myself over choosing what to wear in the morning - the robot would have that kind of knowledge embedded in him - some say it's genetics, some say it's the way he was raised, but either way he makes a snappy dresser.
And the day came when the risk to remain closed in a bud, became more painful than the risk it took to blossom.
Considering that a certain portion of the population is willing to have "sex" with a blow-up doll, it's just a matter of time before robots are marketed for the same purpose.
I'm not joking when I say that the "roboporn" industry is likely to be a significant driving force when it comes to creating cheap, lifelike robots.
I don't know if you could even make a female robot. Since the robot's consciousness would have to be controlled by a computer, I assume it would be based on logic and reason. Both of those qualities are sorely lacking in the females that I've known.
Although, I suppose with good enough pseudo-randomness it might work.
Best slashdot comment
IG_88 is gender neutral!
*DrugCheese rants*
But of course robot gender matters! You have to pay at least 20% more for a male robot than a female doing the same work! Female robots will probably belong in the kitchen too... This all goes back to the stone age when male robots were hunters and female robots were gatherers...
You'd want to have robots of both sex in your cluster. Because then they eventually may reproduce themselves, saving you huge cost if you want to extend it.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
Well, you have to ask yourself some questions
Does it have a 'probe'?
Does it have a connector for input devices?
Imho, determining the sex sounds quite easy.
I want the chick robot from buffy.
Evolution or ID?
It is the yes kind /me ducks
First time caller long time listener.
Reeves and Nass discuss this kind of thing in _The media equation_.
What is missing, I think, is that people do not just 'assign' human, or in this case gender, traits neutrally 'just because the tech. seems to have them'. Rather, the assignation of human or gender traits affords the accomplishment of certain social actions in a way that people are used to.
The same drinks-serving robot could be a butler (male) or a waitress (female) depending on what social actions the participants want to achieve.
This is an easy one. When its working correctly its male. When it wont do what its suppose to its female.
That's funny, though. The interior kind of smells of blood. And everyone's really secretive about how they actually built these things.
And I'm sure it shouldn't have gone off on its own like that that one time.
Those two times.
OK, those three times. And that one ended up messy. And hang on... that's just armour plating! It's not a robot at all! What's going on here?
OH MY GOD IT'S MY MOTHER! AAAAAGGGGGHHHHHH! AAAAASUKAAAAAA!
Real Daleks don't climb stairs - they level the building.
"Whoah, whoah, wait, Bender. As long as we're here, why don't we take in some exotic dancing?"
"Hey, great idea!"
*gasp* "But those girls don't wear cases! You can see their bare circuits!"
My pick is Cherry 2000 just more reliable. The break down part needs to be removed from the traits. Not everything has to be a perfect copy of a woman.
My robot regards himself as an "electro-metro-sexual"
this is not about reproduction, but purely about anthropomorphism.
Otherwise, here's a mirror because it might get
Trolling using another account since 2005.
Actually, no, you _don't_ want that!
evidence
Oh wait, thats just a loose wire.
I found that out one Saturday night after I got a little sweety home when she pulled a Crying Game on me. Perhaps some unobtrusive portable testing kit might be in order, or one could simply check for balls in advance of taking them home.
the woman robot is the one with the more complicated remote control =)
Your wish has been granted, a long time ago, back in 1977... C3PO, anyone?
... the domestic robot.
:( | :)
All else failed up to now
Only problem now is some cash.
CC.
TaijiQuan (Huang, 5 loosenings)
or you can consider the sex neuter, as in none. Perhaps a Eunuch running Unix? :)
:)
:)
Why would a robot have to have gender? Why does that matter so much? Next thing you will be telling me that computers have a gender. Find a new use for those USB and Firewire ports?
Nah my robot doesn't even resemble a human in any way shape or form. It is just a perfect killing machine with no conscience or human flaws of any kind. Now I just need to build a billion or so of these things to take over the world. Muahahahah!
Remember, Slashdot does not have a -1 disagree moderation, and no, troll, flamebait, and overrated are not substitutes.
If the robot drinks, it's a male =)
-Imidazole2
The research and exploration of space is mainly driven by the prospect of one day having sex with aliens. I think the research on robots has similar motivations.
If such a bot comes down with a virus, should we label that virus an STD?
Cooper
--
I don't need a pass to pass this pass!
- Groo The Wanderer -
What's the term I'm looking for... Computers in a cluster, reproducing/copulating... Damn! Mating ball? No...
A song about a broken hearted guy who ends up having sex with a robot that is part vacuum cleaner part robotic pig. He ends up short circuiting it (getting it wet somehow) and going to jail for murder (illegal to harm cyborgs in the futuristic society).
BTW - I'm pretty sure the robot was a male. Anyone remember this?
What Sex is Your Robot?
More importantly, what robot is your sex?...
"All great things are simple & expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope." --Churchill
Great idea! Let us intruduce sexism to robots!
I ask you, is this really a world we want our robots to live in?!
Sincerely,
Pan Tarhei Hosé, PhD.
"Homo sum et cogito ergo odi profanum vulgus et libido."
From the Citibank identity theft commercial: "Sixty-four inch plasma monitor, twenty gigabyte wireless router, and twenty thousand bucks to complete my robot... my girl robot. This is gunna be the best prom ever. Heh heh heh."
Go away, or I will replace you with a very small shell script.
A class learning French and trying to get to grips with gender wondered if the word "computer" should be masculine or feminine. Split into two groups, men and women, they were asked to say which they considered a computer to be, and to give four reasons for their decision
The women decided that computers are masculine because:
-In order to gain their attention, you have to turn them on.
-They are full of data, but are still clueless.
-They are supposed to help you solve your problems, but most of the time they are the problem.
-As soon as you commit to one, you realise that if you had waited a little longer, you could have had a better one.
The men decided that computers are feminine because:
-No one but their creator understands their internal logic.
-The language they use to communicate with each other is totally incomprehensible.
-Even your smallest mistakes are stored in long-term memory for later retrieval.
-As soon as you commit to them, you spend half your disposable income on buying accesories for them.
$cat
Much better to have female robots. They're much more reasonable and reserved, not going berserk like the males.
Wait, what parallel universe am I talking about?? They're both crazy!! </joke>
I say, leave gender out of the equation. It's kind of creepy if you have robots lamely emulating human characteristics. Also, it's not a good idea to include gender, because it introduces complexity which we don't really need at this point. Perhaps it would be useful for recreational robots, but for robots that actually serve a purpose... No thanks.
The author of the article says that taking on genders will allow them to better interact with humans. I think it would make things more difficult, because gender is such a human construct. We have so many complex psychological issues with our fellow beings. I think it would make things much simpler if we just made perceptions of robots as they are, without intentionally engineering them to appear as a certain gender. Robots should behave like Robots. We don't really know what that is yet, but I think "behavior" of robots is a long way down the road. We're not there yet.
BTW what's the point of having a gender associated with a robot? I don't think Robots have need of those characteristics, or sex for that matter. Well, maybe Infrared port sex. Or maybe Seriel port....yeah...
Well, now that I think of it, I can think of a purpose. Marketing. So, for an assistant robot, you make it abundantly female, and of course, all the guys will want one. Then you make the "security" droid male, (Personally I think a female security robot might be more appealing, but then you've got to play on the typical Male Protector stereotype), and this will get all the females buying one. I think it's a little cheap. But, the markedroids have got to have something to keep them busy, I suppose.
OK I'm thinking about this way too much. Off to finish finals...
...the title should have stopped at "What Sex?"
Why should the female robots do all the housework? For less pay too? Oh wait, robots do not get paid, they are virtual slaves with no rights. Nevermind. ;)
Remember, Slashdot does not have a -1 disagree moderation, and no, troll, flamebait, and overrated are not substitutes.
Only you quivering meatbags worry about such things.
"If you think you have things under control, you're not going fast enough." --Mario Andretti
An important distinction to be made is that sex is not gender. Sex should be used only when referring to the biological nature of the object in question, whereas gender refers to a set of socially-constructed rules governing the objects behavior in society. To quote Everything2: "In anthropology gender is the accepted way to refer to a set of behaviors/beliefes often related to physical sex traits. You can have a gender that is different from your biological sex, if your culture premits."
Fem-bots!
------- "From bored to fanboy in 3.8 asian girls" ----------
For reliability reasons, I prefer machines based on eunuchs.
Unfortunately, I am not Wil Wheaton
[austin powers]She's a a man, baby. Yeah![/austin powers]
I love you miss robot
electronically
I love you miss robot
programmed just to please
You make love like a metronome
don't drive to fast when you take me home
touch the seam on your silver skin
I feel so hard when you take me in
I love you miss robot
electronically...
I love you miss robot,
programmed just to please
Talk of love on the telephone
when your voice fades theres a paying tone
force a coin and your there again
and my loneliness is paid away
I love you miss robot
programmed just to please
I love you miss robot
Electronically
I must leave miss robot,
give yourself to me
I love you miss robot
Do you love me?
I love you miss robot
electronically
I love you miss robot
Programmed just to please
I must leave miss robot
give yourself to me
I love you miss robot
Since selling "sex" was one of the first profitable "businesses" on the 'net, it would make perfect sense for robots to go there too.
Are we going to have people cross-dressing robots to camouflage their sexual preferences?
Would having sex with an anotomically correct robot be cheating on your spouse? (or is that just masturbation?)
Gives new meaning to "Brave New World"!
Would it then be a crabbot?
What about C-3PO? He'd fit right in with the Queer Eye crew. Though who'd want to have to put up with his companion R2D2? (I'm hardly the first to point out that they bicker like only a married couple could, and as the linked article suggests R2 is definitely male.)
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a rigged demo
--Andy Finkel (J. Klass?)
This is nothing... I read it first as "What Sex is [Best With] Your Robot?" and have even started to write quite an interesting essay on the subject, entitled "Robosexualism and Technofetishism in Modern Academia," only to have it deleted later in utter embarrassment, after one of my coworkers has read what I was just writing... I don't know which part of "No, it is not my diary, for God's sake! It is a scientific anallysis for Slashdot community!" he doesn't understand...
Sincerely,
Pan Tarhei Hosé, PhD.
"Homo sum et cogito ergo odi profanum vulgus et libido."
Unix, of course!
(sayonara karma)
eleven plus two / twelve plus one
Does this have to do with the direction you put your AA battery into your pocket vibe? Cause they work whichever way they go in, you know..
(I guess this is the point where I mention I'm off getting the vibe for my wife out of the toychest and bringing it back to bed for a mechanical threesome)
(Dammit, that's not a good enough excuse, now I'll have to post this anonymously.)
"Mr Spock, the women on your planet are logical. That's the only planet in the galaxy that can make that claim" - Kirk
When I drink too much coffee, some people call me a "sex robot." Is that what you mean?
Sincerely,
Pan Tarhei Hosé, PhD.
"Homo sum et cogito ergo odi profanum vulgus et libido."
Everything else would be emulated, so why insisting on this two-sided, archaic worlview?.
Code is Speech. No to Censorship.
"Want sex with your robot?"
yes.
I want my robot to be... robotic
Seriously. I can't be the only one that finds it really annoying when my Windows XP machine modifies the way it behaves because it is guessing what I want to do. It's damn irritating. Or when it suggests I might want to clean icons off my desktop, or whatever.
I do not want my robot to start cleaning things I haven't told it to clean. Or comment on the fact that it's a nice day. Or try to be funny or cute. Just do as I say. You're a frickin' machine.
I'm sorry but I stopped reading right here, for I am not quite sure whether I want to read about it...
Sincerely,
Pan Tarhei Hosé, PhD.
"Homo sum et cogito ergo odi profanum vulgus et libido."
...wish welcome our new sexually ambivalent robotic masters...
Goddamn I need to stop watching so much anime and reading so many webcomics. You do not want to know what's going through my mind right now.
'Don't worry' said the trees when they saw the axe coming, 'The handle is one of us.'
Female: ???
"Most people realize that fundamentally there's nothing going on inside the silicon except the cold calculation of ones and zeros"
Guess he's not running AMD then?
Female Real dolls have a base price of $5999 plus $450 shipping and handling...
The "Interactive sensory response system" is another $1500, and the "hip gyration" is god knows how much more!
scroll to the bottom of this page to see these options.
"Humans dating robots is sick. You people wonder why I'm still single? It's 'cos all the fine robot sisters are datin' humans"
After reading all of the above comments with sincere interestedness, I inevitably came to the following conclusion: we need to get laid. All of us. Otherwise the entire robotics industry might soon become nothing more but a robofetishistic sex shop for sick perverted deviants. Seriously.
Sincerely,
Pan Tarhei Hosé, PhD.
"Homo sum et cogito ergo odi profanum vulgus et libido."
Hell yeah! I will only obey a shiny metal fem-bot! :)
Get your own free personal location tracker
To boldly go where many men have gone before
I'm sure in the future when robots integrate more easily with our lives and it becomes natural to interact with them perhaps "sex" of the robot will become important for sales, but determining the sex of a Roomba? Come on, thats ridiculous.
And I'm not really sure we need to determine the sex of a robot that has, dum dum DUUUUMM mastered stairs. An impressive achievement true, but not sex assignment worthy.
What can I say? I have a definite preference => the best of both worlds! Who says you can't have your cake and eat it too? -- Jeanette ;>
Wow, Frank Zappa already explored this terrain almost 30 years ago? Not really surprising.
Joe was crushed by having his gf stolen by the road crew of a famous touring rock and roll band (I dunno if it was really Toto or not, we'll check it out).
He turned to the First Church of Appliantology where L. Ron Hoover told him he was a latent appliance fetishist.
"A latent appliance fetishist is a person who refuses to admit to his or her self that sexual gratifiction can only be achieved by the use of machines"
Joe was put in prison after the machine... got a certain bodily fluid on it and short circuited.
While in jail, the central scrutinzer abolishes all music as Joe lives the rock and roll life in his head, even to the point of arguing with contrived rock critics.
You have a wombat?! Wombats are freakin' cool.
picture of one (pops)
Thanks for reminding me
Member of Orkut? Annoyed with spam?
Man, this looks like we are seeing (yet another) Isaac Asimov's Book: The Robots of Dawn.
AFAIR, there was two robots that looked like humans, and one woman used one as a "boyfriend" (in the biblical sense). No one knew about that, except the guy who was inspecting the case. In the background, a lot of people in that planet (it was a "not so large" one, and a few humans lived there, with lots of robots working as servants) imagined that "that" could be happening in a big house, with a woman and a robot that looked like a human, and worried about the day where robots would replace humans for the more "carnal" things.
Also, I can remember a ST:TNG episode where Data meets Tasha "in the biblical sense".
So, what I mean by all that, is that some people will be worried about the idea of robots that look like humans, as they could "stole" the place of a husband or a wife.
That's an easy one... Good robots are expensive to build, take a lot of maintenance to keep them happy, and frequent trips to the store.
That sounds like a woman to me. And no, I am not single...
---
Lousy rotten karmic retribution.
mod parent up!
of course, one can also have gender traits which vary from one's sex even if culture does not "permit".
i keep thinking of stewie on "the family guy". hehe.
There is an old slavic proverb: "A hungry man has bread on his mind." Apparently the Slashdot community, myself included, seems to be literally starving... Actually, this is sad, if not outright pathetic. Please excuse me my poor humour.
Sincerely,
Pan Tarhei Hosé, PhD.
"Homo sum et cogito ergo odi profanum vulgus et libido."
Thank you I was looking for this comment, had to scroll a ways down.
Sex is biological, although it'd be acceptable to refer to a robot's sex only as it's physical characteristics (anatomically correct robots)
Gender is how the robot acts, dresses, talks, etc. A good word to use for gender is feminine/masculine if you don't want to confuse it with sex. Furthermore masculine/feminine's definitions varies from culture to culture. The modern American female has a completely different gender role to a feudal Japanese female.
Think of the robot of the Jetsons, clearly feminine. But that doesn't mean when you lift her apron she'll have... oh fine I'll keep it clean.
The difference with sex and gender has been confused because people think "sex" is a taboo word, so they just interchange the two. Occasionally see it say gender on forms still
You see, I have one of those Epson Female Printers and everytime I buy a heterosexual male robot, it keeps trying to "interface" with my printer...
-- Fratz, human
My Other Robot is C-3PO.
Neither have most of us here--at least not as often as we'd like to. I think you should introduce your robot to Slashdot. He would fit here perfectly well.
Sincerely,
Pan Tarhei Hosé, PhD.
"Homo sum et cogito ergo odi profanum vulgus et libido."
I seem to recall Anton Lavey forecasting (ie guessing) that at some point a huge industry will spring to life making lifelike humanoid robot slaves, so that instead of wasting our time and energy trying to interact with real people who probably won't share our views or sensibilities, we can all get instant gratification from the machines that we've programmed to respond exactly as we demand.
Not that anyone reading Slashdot would want to withdraw from human interaction and spend all their time with an anthropomorphisisisised (hell, I don't know how to spell it) bunch of circuits.
*Thinks...*
Oh dear.
Disclaimer: I am a very happy Mac owner (iBook) - this is in no way an anti-Mac post.
I don't know how you would program a male robot, but for a female robot, it only has to randomly exhibit one of the following reactions to any given input X:
1) gossip about X
2) get emotional about X
3) be bored by X
4) buy an outfit for X
5) blame X on men
Robots of Dawn
I just read this about a year ago.
The robot was the woman's husband and he had been murdered. The investigation was about who murdered the robot. The interesting thing was that the murder was comitted by taking the victim and basically forcing him to do a divide by zero, rendering him completely permanently comatose and frying his hardware.
It was a fairly interesting read. The robots are advanced to the point of having fairly human personalities. Giving them a gender helped fill hte personality out, though they didn't really have human drives, like "Jesus Christ I Haven't Been Laid In Weeks! Must Get Some!"
s'wut i sed.
A while back on *bottomquark, there was an article about a guy who built a belly-dancing robot. Robotics work happened to be his day job, and he was fascinated by the motions. Turns out that belly-dancing, and spine movements in general turn out to be variations of the movements of swimming fish. Not surprising when you think about it, because both are spinal undulations. A little odder to think of erect spinal posture a a variation of spinal undulation, but still reasonable, when you add feedback.
Anyhow, nature has shown remarkable versatility in reusing simple fundamentals to do complex things.
Your robot may not be as difficult as you think.
The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
I seem to recall Anton LaVey forecasting (ie guessing) that a huge industry will develop to produce lifelike humanoid robot slaves, so that instead of wasting our time and energy trying to interact with other people who don't share our sensibilities or views, we'll all be able to gain instant gratification from a robot programmed to respond in the manner that pleases us most.
Not that anyone reading Slashdot would want to disengage from human society and take solace with a bunch of anthropomorphic circuits.
*thinks*
Oh dear.
If my memory of my class in Medieval Literature is correct, the Icelandic people had two terms that had a similar connotation to gender that were used to refer to people, but were closer to 'strong' and 'weak'.
So an an improper translation, a female leader might be refered to as 'he', while an elderly male might be refered to as 'she'.
But in today's context, I think my brother's gone out with women who were more masculine than he was.
Build it, and they will come^Hplain.
Had to say it.
nt.
Tivo.
I don't have one, but I've heard that it will "suggest" new programs for you and record them, based on your past taste.
Do you find this "helpful" or "annoying"?
If it were to erase something I wasn't done with yet in order to record a suggested program, I'd be annoyed. I don't know if Tivo does this, though.
The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
Chobits? Key-The Metal Idol? Tsunami Channel? Battle Angel? Robot Carnival?
You say things that offend me and I can deal with it. Can you?
(and so Kryten tries to get himself reclassified as a male)
KOCHANSKI There's a mouse under here, its been scuttling around for about ten minutes. KRYTEN It's not a mouse, ma'am, it's Archie. KOCHANSKI Archie? KRYTEN My penis. It must have escaped. KOCHANSKI You know, I'm really going to have to get my ears syringed; do you know what that sounded like to me? KRYTEN I made one. KOCHANSKI Forget my ears, maybe my whole *brain* needs syringing... You made one? KRYTEN Mmm. Out of an old electron board, a loo roll, some sticky-backed plastic and an Action Man's polo-neck jumper. KOCHANSKI Kryten, why do you want one? KRYTEN It's so humiliating, being posted to the Women's Wing just because I'm genitally challenged! So I decided to make one like Mister Lister's. Little rascal must have got bored jumping in and out of his hoop and made a break for it during the night.Build it, and they will come^Hplain.
In some languages some constructs bear the mark of the speaker's gender; e.g. in Russian there is no way to say anything in the past or present perfect tense without revealing your gender: "I (male) have said" is "Ya skazal", but "I (female) have said" is "Ya skazala". To assign a gender to a talking robot is therefore a necessity.
Many of you may have read this already, but if you haven't, I highly recommend The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin. I found its take on gender and how it impacts all aspects of our relationships to be really interesting. And it's a good story, too.
But women have been using "robots" for sex for years. Don't believe me? Google for "Hello Kitty vibrator" and see what turns up...
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
Doggone it, I use machines because they are *not* emotional. The absence of things like boredom and distraction and petty irritation and dreams of glory is what makes them valuable.
A robot is, as Asimov observed, a mobile computerized tool. I do not want to have an emotional relationship with a tool -- those which evoke emotions I usually throw away long before they wear out! My ideal relationship with a tool is that it does what I ask of it, no more and no less.
The computer under my desk has a perfectly satisfactory gender: it is neuter. I see no reason why a robot shouldn't be neuter as well.
Why must people assign names or gender to machines??
How perverted is that? What's next? Robot dating? Robot sex?
Get a life. A machine is a machine. It's a dumb machine. The engine in your car is a machine. Your toaster is a machine. Your cell phone is a machine. So is your freaking computer...
Since you name your computer, why not take a photo of it and carry it in your wallet, show it off to your friend, like a baby picture?
Or take a picture of your "female" robot and show that to your friends as your "girl friend"..
You people are pathetic...
Warbot 1Alpha is now online. Gender selected is now male, hardware upgrade will follow. Slashdot account has been created.
I've already conclusively proven that male robots cannot handle gender-conversion.
I removed my robot's nuts, and it just totally fell apart.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I feel very unclean and need to take a bath in a tub of bleach.
"Prepare for the worst - hope for the best."
Actually, I used to own a copy of Gnip Gnop when I was a kid. It was a lot of fun, IIRC.
Boobies never hurt anyone. - Sherry Glaser.
I built it/him better than I thought I did?
Remember, Slashdot does not have a -1 disagree moderation, and no, troll, flamebait, and overrated are not substitutes.
Gus is your man.
Boobies never hurt anyone. - Sherry Glaser.
Yes, Cy was male and had a thing for men who spoke German. Joe killed Cy by plooking him too hard.
Frank Zappa is a musical god.
Boobies never hurt anyone. - Sherry Glaser.
Like Spanish, German etc, what is the default gender for robot?
And connected to my Linux box on /dev/input and handles requests to /dev/porn, /dev/alt/*, and web server requests to http:///porn.
...as long as it's a weed smoking robot.
-tom
C3PO's gender never was in doubt, according to Topps.
They are robots, just machines that do as we tell them. When is this useless romantic facination with machines going to end? Do you hug your fridge every night?
Homer: My soulmates name is EARL. Here I come EARL! HUH!?!
computer:
Electronic
Automatic
Robotic
Lighthouse
Apparently it is male... I think...
redvsblue.com
::BANG!::
Sarge: Did you just shoot yourself in the foot?
Simmons: Yeah I do that sometimes now..
Just like my current girlfriend.....
"If some unemployed punk in New Jersey can get a cassette to make love to Elle McPherson for $19.95, this [pleasure-unit robot] stuff is going to make crack look like Sanka."
--Dennis Miller, doctored to be relevant to the discussion
"A great democracy must be progressive or it will soon cease to be a great democracy." --Theodore Roosevelt
Chii? wakaranai...
In "Perelandra", C.S. Lewis makes the suggestion that gender is a fundamental reality, of which biological sex is an imperfect reflection. For instance, even the Eldila - alien beings who do not reproduce - have gender. If that is true, then assigning gender to a robot makes perfect sense.
I'd say that Anna Mae is "over the top", especially this one.
You got metal fever, boy! Metal fever! My God! You never saw the propaganda film. It's just lucky I keep a copy in the VCR at all times.
[He presses a button and a film title appears on the screen: I Dated A Robot!. In the movie a couple sit in a café and stare into each other's eyes. A narrator walks into the scene.]
Narrator: Ordinary human dating. It's enjoyable and it serves an important purpose. [He turns the table over and a crying baby appears. He turns it back again.] But when a human dates an artificial mate, there is no purpose. Only enjoyment. And that leads to...tragedy.
[The woman behind him turns into a blank robot and the man downloads a celebrity onto it.]
Billy: Neato! A Marylin Monroebot!
Monroebot: Ooo! You're a real dreamboat (mechanical voice) Billy Everyteen!
Narrator: Harmless fun? Let's see what happens next!
[The scene cuts to Billy's bedroom. He is kissing the Monroebot. Enter his mother.]
Billy's Mom: Billy, do you want to walk your dog?
Billy: No thank Mom, I'd rather make out with my Monroebot.
[Enter his dad.]
Billy's Dad: Billy, do want to get a paper route and earn some extra cash?
Billy: No thanks dad, I'd rather make out with my Monroebot.
[Enter his girlfriend, Mavis, from the café.]
Mavis: Billy, do you want to come over tonight? We can make out together.
Billy: Gee Mavis, your house is across the street, that's an awfully long way to go for making out.
Narrator: Did you notice what went wrong in that scene? Ordinarily Billy would work hard to make money from his paper route then he'd use the money to buy dinner for Mavis, thus earning the slim chance of performing the reproductive act. But in a world where teens can date robots why should he bother? Why should anyone bother? Let's take a look at Billy's planet a year later. [The scene changes and a foam hand rolls across an empty American football field] Where are all the football stars? [The foam hand continues to drift across an empty laboratory.] And where are the biochemists? [The scene changes to a split screen of a pair of human and robots making out on beds.] They are trapped - trapped in a soft, vice-like grip of robot lips. All civilisation was just an effort to impress the opposite sex. And sometimes the same sex. Now, let's skip forward 80 years into the future. Where is Billy?
[The scene changes to a post-apocalyptic world. Billy is an aged man but he is still with his Monroebot and still making out with her.]
Billy: Farewell!
[He dies.]
Narrator: The next day Billy's planet was destroyed by aliens. [In the movie a fleet of flying saucers destroy buildings with a quick laser shot.] Have you guessed the name of Billy's planet? It was Earth. Don't Date Robots!
[A caption appears on the screen with the same words on it and the movie ends. The space pope is displayed on the screen with Crocodylus Pontiflex written around him in English and alien.]
Announcer [voice-over]: Brought to you by the space pope!
[3ACV15]
Sincerely,
Pan Tarhei Hosé, PhD.
"Homo sum et cogito ergo odi profanum vulgus et libido."
I, for one, welcome our new robotic overlords!
Sincerely,
Pan Tarhei Hosé, PhD.
"Homo sum et cogito ergo odi profanum vulgus et libido."
Methinks that we should stop fucking saying "methinks". Who do you think you are? Jar Jar Binks?