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Robotics Researcher Starts Campaign To Ban Development of Sexbots

Posted by Soulskill on from the when-technology-gets-weird dept.

Earthquake Retrofit writes: A robotics ethicist from the UK's De Montfort University has started a campaign to ban the development and use of sex robots. "She believes that they reinforce traditional stereotypes of women and the view that a relationship need be nothing more than physical." The campaign was spurred by news that some companies claim to be fairly far along in development of such technology. One company even plans to start selling them later this year. The campaign's goals and concerns include "We propose that the development of sex robots will further reduce human empathy that can only be developed by an experience of mutual relationship," and, "We challenge the view that the development of adults and child sex robots will have a positive benefit to society, but instead further reinforce power relations of inequality and violence."

28 of 536 comments (clear)

  1. Bigotry Shmigotry by nospam007 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "She believes that they reinforce traditional stereotypes of women"

    Millions of gay men will hate you and your bigotry, because your arguments sucks more than a sex robot would do.

    1. Re:Bigotry Shmigotry by kaur · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Why does she believe the sexbots to be mostly feminine?
      Why only stereotypes of women need reinforcing?

      A female chauvinist pig she is!

    2. Re:Bigotry Shmigotry by TheRaven64 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Exactly. Compare sales of fleshlights to sales of vibrators / dildos. Women are far more likely currently to be buying machines for sexual purposes. Why would the sexbot market be any different?

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    3. Re:Bigotry Shmigotry by monkeyzoo · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Many states used to control and ban what a lot of adults could do in the privacy of their own homes with other consenting adult humans. Almost all those laws have been wiped clean, and now, in the name of progress, this researcher wants to control what I can or can't do with a machine?!? Will the prude and pious attempts of puritan fanatics to control our sexuality, outlaw harmless "perversion," and squelch sexual freedom never stop?!

    4. Re:Bigotry Shmigotry by Kjella · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Exactly. Compare sales of fleshlights to sales of vibrators / dildos. Women are far more likely currently to be buying machines for sexual purposes. Why would the sexbot market be any different?

      Because women are buying it as substitute for a cock, men as substitute for a relationship? If you look at something like escort service and prostitution it's massively dominated by male customers who pay for women to pretend to be their girlfriends/lovers or even dressing up RealDolls. Women use vibrators/dildos because they want want sex without the "baggage" of a boyfriend/one night stand, men want to play-pretend the exact opposite. Another clear clue should be that fleshlights try to mimic a human vagina, while there's a huge market for dildos and vibrators in all shapes and colors that have nothing to do with realism.

      In any case, she's wrong and it's a massive double standard at work here. Over the last 100 years there's been a massive movement to give women economic independence. Well tough shit, now we men want sexual independence and if I can get a sexbot to screw my brains out then we start a relationship more on equal footing. No, you don't need my money. No, I don't need your pussy. We can both do fine on our own, but maybe we have some mutual interest in having a relationship together because we want to. There's many men staying in poor relationships because they get pussy, ending those would do everyone good.

      --
      Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
    5. Re:Bigotry Shmigotry by king+neckbeard · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Actually, a number of prostitutes have said that they are mostly therapists. Granted, a lot of it probably depends on what their clientele is, and I doubt that "crack whores" play typically play that kind of role.

      --
      This is my signature. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
    6. Re:Bigotry Shmigotry by dablow · · Score: 4, Insightful

      This.....this is exactly it.

      It's all about power, right now, in the west at least, women have it.

      If you pay attention you will often notice that a lot of women seem to oppose any kind of sexual service offered to men. They are afraid that if men can get laid whenever they want, they will not want to settle or put up with the headaches that come with being in a relationship. Of course they they never admit that, instead of opting for causes such as fighting "human trafficking" and "protecting the children".

      And with the rise of sex robots on the horizon.......they are starting to get a little worried, because it renders their arguments against male sexual freedom moot.

      I will admit, that I myself have fallen "victim" to the power of the pussy, dating horrible women because simply they "put out".

    7. Re:Bigotry Shmigotry by dablow · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The big difference is, if you are an average looking guy, it's not easy to get laid when you want or get a gf when you want.

      The reverse (average looking woman) is not true; Even blandest plain looking average woman can get laid whenever she wants, will have a lineup of men waiting to take her out on dates (getting a decent bf is not as easy though).

      This is nothing more than a woman being terrified they will lose their sexual power over men.

      Imagine how the dating scene would change if men could get off (legally, cleanly and guilt free) whenever the had the urge, instead of having to date countless women and pretend to like them to get laid until the right one came along.....

    8. Re:Bigotry Shmigotry by Beezlebub33 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      ...If you look at something like escort service and prostitution it's massively dominated by male customers who pay for women to pretend to be their girlfriends/lovers or even dressing up RealDolls.

      You bring up an interesting point: would a sexbot replace a girlfriend, or would it be more likely to replace a prostitute. I would guess prostitute. I would have a girlfriend (insert joke here) because I want a relationship with another human being, with mutually agreed-upon sex, with some conflicting issues regarding frequency and style. I would want a prostitute because I want sex when and how I want it without a relationship. A sexbot fills the second far more than the first. So, the end effect would be a decrease in prostitution / escorts and their knock on effects. This would seem to be a win for women, not a loss.

      --
      The more people I meet, the better I like my dog.
  2. Predicable do-gooder medling. by Cafe+Alpha · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Every bit as doomed as banning porn. I'd be angry at her for trying, but since she'll accomplish precisely nothing, I think her failure will be a thoroughly satisfying punishment for the attempt.

  3. Consider the source by Crashmarik · · Score: 5, Funny

    Looking at the woman

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

    It's no surprise she fears competition from robots.

    1. Re:Consider the source by Blue+Stone · · Score: 5, Funny

      I agree.

      I much prefer the Youtube commenter who suggested she was trying to protect the interests of the "pussy cartel".

      --
      Corporation, n. An ingenious device for obtaining individual profit without individual responsibility. - Ambrose Bierce
  4. makes no sense to me by NostalgiaForInfinity · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "She believes that they reinforce traditional stereotypes of women and the view that a relationship need be nothing more than physical."

    How does choosing to have sex with a robot reinforce stereotypes about women or relationships with women?

    1. Re:makes no sense to me by Kuroji · · Score: 4, Funny

      How dare you bring logic into this argument. This is an emotional appeal, damn it!

    2. Re:makes no sense to me by rioki · · Score: 4, Informative

      The interesting thing and lack of basic reasoning skills comes from the fact that Dr. Richardson apparently can only picture sex robots as being a simulacrum of the female gender. Although I don't have hard numbers at hand, I read in an interview with the Real Doll creator, that the male gender did sell almost as well as their female gendered dolls. The kicker is that most dolls were soled with the swap-able genitalia and both genitalia. If we see a usable sex robot any time soon, you can rest assured that it will probably come in both gendered versions.

      But no, let's make this about women and how they are objectified.

    3. Re:makes no sense to me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Dildo's give hetrosexual women more options. That's empowering. Sexbots give hetero men more options. That's misogynistic.

  5. Why? Sexbots could be great! by aaaaaaargh! · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Sexbots for women and men might be the ultimate chance to remedy one humanity's greatest source of conflicts, ranging from the Troian War over annoyingly crazy teenagers to sexually frustrated housewives. They could finally stop men from objectifying women for purely sexual purposes. The effects of this change could be more beneficial than the pill and the invention of the vibrator taken together. In an age in which in-vitro fertilization is easy, it would be crazy to take away this unique chance for the evolution of humanity.

  6. I offer conditional support by _merlin · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'll support her movement as long as she also pushes to ban dildos, vibrators, clitoral stimulators, teledildonics, "fucking machines" and other female masturbation aids. No, I don't use masturbation aids, and I don't have a problem with female masturbation aids. I just have a problem with the horrific double standard. Feminists tell us that women who use masturbation aids are strong, independent and empowered, while at the same time claiming that men who use masturbation aids are disgusting perverts.

    1. Re:I offer conditional support by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Exactly! Dildos perpetuate stereotypes of male sexual organ size.

  7. So what's the alternative for geeks? by nukenerd · · Score: 4, Insightful
    She said

    human empathy that can only be developed by an experience of mutual relationship

    So what does she have to offer or suggest to those people (men particularly) who have no opportunity to develop such an experience? In the West at least, a significant proportion of women have rejected men entirely, possible after one fling and a child. Equal wages and opportunities for women, as well as social attitudes, mean that it is no longer "essential" for a woman to find a husband as it was as recently as two generations ago. There are too many men seeking for the number of women available.

  8. Rather by elgatozorbas · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "She believes that they reinforce traditional stereotypes of women"

    Sounds more like "women will lose the powerful tool of sex deprivation to control men".

    Not that anyone here will suffer from that a lot.

    1. Re:Rather by silas_moeckel · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Men have the right to sex, everybody has a right to have their needs met. The bigger picture is limiting men's access to sex. You have an entire culture that's based upon artificial scarcity of female sexual partners. Slut shaming is at it's root an attempt to keep other women in line. Monogamy is written into law as far as divorces etc etc etc. Willing prostitution is generally illegal (and been correlated to large reductions in rape and general male violence where is available and reasonably affordable). Social stigma that is associated with open marriages poly relationships etc etc seem to primarily come from women. Divorce is still heavily tilted towards women due to 60+ year old assumptions.

      At the end of the day a healthy relationship means everybody's needs are getting met, too many men an active sex life is a need. So that has to happen within the relationship one way or another for the relationship to continue and be healthy.

      So I would say men do have a right to sex and women do deny men sex. That right is not to any particular women. Too many times I've heard feminists go on about how it's unfair for a man to pressure/coerce etc etc a woman to have sex especially in relationships. Few couples have the same sex drive at all times. To say that men have no right to press to have their needs met in a relationship is abusive to the core. At the end of the day if your partner is unwilling or unable to meet your needs you have to figure out how to solve the problem, in general that can't happen without negotiations and each side giving. Yes that means some women may have more sex than they want, that's not male oppression rather the effect of societal pressure that's primary from women.

      --
      No sir I dont like it.
    2. Re:Rather by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      At the end of the day if your partner is unwilling or unable to meet your needs you have to figure out how to solve the problem, in general that can't happen without negotiations and each side giving.

      I'll never understand my wife.

      She doesn't like cleaning the house; I hired a woman to do that for her and she was happy.

      She doesn't like giving me blowjobs; I hired a woman to do that for her and she got all mad!

  9. Re:She has no business banning anything by NostalgiaForInfinity · · Score: 4, Informative

    It may surprise you to learn that the study of ethics actually goes beyond "absolute personal freedom at all costs" - in fact it largely consists of contradictions to that position.

    Ethics is the study of right and wrong choices. Once the freedom to make such choices is taken away, ethics ceases to be involved. That is, if you outlaw sex bots, then the choice not to obtain a sex bot is not an ethical choice anymore, it is a pragmatic or utilitarian choice.

    Are you able to address any of the points she actually makes

    We have addressed the "points" she makes elsewhere. Here, we are discussing the contradiction inherent in an ethicist advocating authoritarian policies.

  10. Re:Likewise by cayenne8 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    She believes that they reinforce traditional stereotypes of women and the view that a relationship need be nothing more than physical."

    I knew it had to be a chick raising these objections as soon as I read the reasoning.

    Broadly speaking (no pun intended), females relate sex to emotional and relationship feelings and thoughts. While men do derive pleasure from combining "love" and sex, it isn't always necessary. Sex just by itself for physical pleasure is great and one doesn't always even need to know or remember her name.

    Again, very broadly speaking, this isn't something in the female mentality, or at least it has not been....till recently I do see changes in female attitudes towards this..but I don't think it is still nearly as prevalent as with mens thinking and easy ability to separate emotion from the physical act.

    It is often been said that one sure cure to world over population would be to perfect some sort of artificial sex, be it virtual or some type of robot, that is so real feeling.......and basically you'd have a ton of men who would have their physical needs fulfilled, without having to put up with the nagging, and emotional baggage that comes with women (not to mention potential unwanted kids). I fear female popularity would drop a good bit. Not saying it is a good or bad thing, but I could see it potentially happen.

    I mean, there's an old joke that kinda sums it up....

    "Why did God give women tits?"

    "So men would talk to them...."

    --
    Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
  11. Re:Likewise by Intrepid+imaginaut · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Again, very broadly speaking, this isn't something in the female mentality, or at least it has not been....

    The existence and popularity of dildos invalidates both your position and hers.

  12. Re:???... WTF by Opportunist · · Score: 4, Informative

    Pedos want to fuck, too.

    And bluntly, if some small plastic sex toy spares one child that experience, I do WANT them to exist!

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  13. Re:They get my Lucy Lu Bot... by Cederic · · Score: 4, Insightful

    But until AI really gets good, sexbots are only going to appeal to the tiny minority of men who are already using Real Dolls. No threat to society as a whole.

    Over half of the women in the UK already own a sexbot, I'm not sure AI is all that necessary.