Sexbot Perspectives: Expert Roundup

Our ongoing library of responses on the pros and cons of creating sex robots.

In July 2016, we began asking experts a very broad—yet important—question:

What is the potential or the possible pitfalls of developing sex robots?

We decidedly put out such a general query to gain views from a wide range of people, both in and outside of robotics.

Our aim: To create dialogue and help shape the best possible future—one that will be deeply influenced by breakthroughs in artificial intelligence and robotics.

For easy reading of the various “Sexbot Perspectives,” we’ve compiled a list of the responses below in order of most recently published. We’ll keep updating the list as new views are posted.

Does a particular response resonate most with you? Or does one perhaps rankle your worldview? Share your thoughts in the comments section at the bottom of the page.

• Robots and Artificial Humans Will Change Our Understanding of Attachment

  Techno-sex researcher Dr. Trudy Barber on redefining and recontextualizing interactions with different types of synthetic partners.

• Data Ownership and Security Will Be Crucial for Sex Robot Users

  Roboticist Dr. Kit Stubbs on creating a positive future for sex tech. Their concerns are threefold: data collection, security and privacy, and sexuality education.

• Robots Will Make Sex Easier for People with Mobility Issues

  Sex blogger Girl on the Net says robots may offer hope and help for people suffering from physical and mental barriers.

• We’ll Fall Even Deeper for Technology Once It Appears Human

  BodAi co-founder Zak Field considers the emotional relationships between people and machines, saying our hearts will be done for once we have humanoid robots.

• Benefits of ‘Relationship Robots’ Outweigh the Risks

  RealDoll creator Matt McMullen reframes the conversation on sex robots. His insight is particularly relevant. In 2015, McMullen unveiled Realbotix: a project to create a robotic head with the illusion of sentience that will attach to a RealDoll body.

• Robots Are Potential Tools to Study and Treat Sexual Behavior

  Kate Darling, a self-proclaimed “Mistress of Machines,” researches robot ethics and human-robot interaction at MIT Media Lab. She views sex robots as possible outlets for undesirable sexual urges and a way to study sexual behavior.

• Sex Robots Will Lead to Fewer Broken Hearts and Lonely Souls

  Sex doll vendor Massey Dollster (pseudonym) shares his positive outlook on the future of human-robot relationships and how they can help end loneliness.

• Robot Sex Workers Will Help Human Relationships

  Julie Carpenter, a research fellow at California Polytechnic State University who specializes in human-robot interaction, envisions sex-positive future with eroticized machines.

• Mechanical Dolls Will Harm Society and Promote Rape

  UK ethicist Kathleen Richardson, founder of the Campaign Against Sex Robots, warns about the dangers of creating machines designed for sexual gratification.

Image source: ROverhate