Let’s postulate for a moment that science, in its pursuit of the meaningful things in life, will soon develop a robot designed for sexual intercourse. There are already realistic life-sized latex humans, selling for thousands of dollars for this very purpose; the idea of giving these dolls some animation doesn’t seem that far-fetched. Within another couple of decades, given the sexbots’ success, they will be honed, perfected, and will come down in price.
Let’s postulate for the sake of this debate that there will soon be robots available for purchase that can simulate human sexual behavior convincingly. Body temperature, fluid excretion, movement, smell, taste, even limited dialog will be available. They’ll have no artificial intelligence beyond that of random characters in computer games; maybe routines could be uploaded into them for different scenarios. They will be almost indistinguishable, physically, from a real human in the sack, though not useful for much else.
What effect will that have on society? Will marriage rates drop? Will people who have their every physical sexual need satisfied by a totally non-demanding partner give up the search for human companionship? Will women or men be the biggest buyers of these sexbots, and what effect would an imbalance have?
I for one have a few nice, but socially uninterested friends who would just give up dating altogether, given a robotic playmate. Their search for a partner is motivated by lust; wouldn’t it be a good thing for them to have their needs satisfied with nobody else involved? Heck, for that matter, if we freed up the time that a lot of people spend cultivating relationships for the sole purpose of sex, would we see a technological renaissance? Sexually satisfied geeks by the thousands would breath a huge sigh of relief, and get right back to coding.
Other issues would come up as well. For instance, I assume that certain celebrities would license sexbots made in their image, as their celebrity makes their image proprietary. However, what if your next door neighbor had a custom sexbot made to resemble you? Would you be able to sue?
What about sexbots made in the image of animals? There’s already the infamous Love Ewe; how lifelike would artificial animals have to be before it became an ethical issue? And then the biggie; what about sexbots made in the image of children? No kids were harmed in the making, but pedophiles with robot kids is disturbing. Would it be wrong?
This issue will come up; one of the primary forces advancing Internet technology is porn, and there are neat new sex gizmos coming out all the time. I can tell that from my Hotmail inbox. I’m curious as to what the Doper community thinks of the possible convoluted consequences of the sexbot invasion.
Of corse not, a real geek would just buy two bots and let them have a go at it so (s)he could do even more coding…
Sorry for that, couldn’t resist… But you did raise some intresting points in your post. Especially the ones of custom made bots in the resemblance of others… Honestly, how much of us wouldn’t want to buy a “Boss-bot” and lock him in a small cell with a mean-looking “Bubba-bot” and a bar of soap?
Okay… As for making sexbots looking like someone without their permission, I think that would probably be in violation of current laws, but I’m not sure. You definatly could not run off a whole line of “(Clebrity Name Here) SexBots” without their permission.
As for the animal idea, I think that’s just fine. While we’re at it, think they can make me a custom dragon bot?
Child sex-bots, well… At least it’d be a different outlet than a real one… “fake” kiddie porn (virtually-created stuff with no real kids involved) was just recently ruled as legal, IIRC, since it didn’t actually involve children. I imagine it’d probably be similar, in this case. Will certainly be looked down upon by society, though, so I kinda doubt you’ll find any major lines pumping them out for eager consumers…
And of course, what it would do for social interaction. A sex-bot like that could satisfy lust fine, but they wouldn’t do anything to satisfy love (Granted, for many, lust is enough! At least, it seems to be the only explanation for many of the relationships I’ve seen…). I don’t think it would have much of a negative effect, really.
Call me a starry-eyed idealist, but I don’t think the sexbot would, as you postulate, cause a serious end to dating/marriage. Human beings have an innate desire for companionship and intimacy that goes beyond lust, and while I have no doubt that the sexbots would sell really, realy well, I think most people would still want a human husband, wife, or SO in addition to their toy.
Since it seems to be an article of received wisdom that paedophiles can be neither cured nor reformed, perhaps making child-like sex robots available to them is the best solution to the problem … as for other issues, I don’t think the sex robots pose much more of a moral problem than any other sex toy. (I’m, if anything, amused by the idea of animal sex robots … is someone suggesting that it’s OK to have sex with a plastic contraption that’s one shape, but, if you use a differently-shaped plastic contraption, that’s a perversion and a mortal sin?)
Hmm… Lets start with the premise that there is “good” sex which requires an intimate link with the other person and “ordinary” sex which is simply the act of slapping two bits of meat.
Sexbots can provide ordinary sex but not good sex. Then again, masturbation and prostitutes can provide both of those alternatives as well. All sexbots are going to do is to to give people prostitution sex and masturbation prices.
In other words, it wont be viewed as “real” sex and will always be looked down upon as the alternative for people who cant get some.
However, its effects upon perversion is different. You could argue that someone who has a perversion is going to do it anyway and it is more benifical to provide them with a safe alternative. Others argue that the more someone can do perverse things, the more they will want to. This argumenthas been applied to pornography and it will probably apply without too many drastic changes to sexbots.
However, I dont think that taking sexbots as an isolated phenomena is going to be much help. It is quite likely that any robot capable of reproducing something like sex would also be well on the way to emulating sentience as well. What happens when people start forming emotional bonds with their bots? Do we grant them human rights?
What I do with my computer screen is nobody’s business but my own … I am, I must admit, old-fashioned enough to consider that there’s a distinction between things that are real and things that are not. So long as no real children/goats/kiwis are interfered with, as far as I’m concerned, people can abuse digitized images and plastic contraptions to their little hearts’ (or other organs’ ) content … personally, I might consider it a poor substitute for proper sex, with a conscious, willing, adult, human partner, but, hey, live and let live, that’s what I say.
But the power and control you can have over an automaton is pretty much absolute, isn’t it? Much more than you can attain over a flesh and blood person … it might even appeal to some mentalities.
(Though others might be completely turned off by the artificiality of the situation, and would always go for real live victims. I’m not suggesting for a moment that this would be any sort of panacea … merely a possible course of action that might neutralize the threat presented by some paedophiles.)
(I’m also conveniently ignoring the fact that - as I and all the other computing professionals can attest - it is actually bloody near impossible to attain complete power and control even over our ordinary computers, so why should sexbots be any different? I shudder to think what their equivalent of the Blue Screen of Death might be … )
Not an issue, IMHO. Answer this question: Does the ability to masturbate keep people from dating? No. People like interacting sexually with other human beings, it’s that simple. That’s not something you can substitute for with a doll or a robot or what have you. If you could, then singles bars wouldn’t exist.
Sexbots would yield the end of programming progress – all that built-up sexual frustration has got to be part of what keeps geeks coding through the night.
Sure. If you want the flamethrower option with that, though, it’s gonna cost extra. And you’ll have to sign this disclaimer.
I think that there are people for whom the endless quest for the One True Love is unrealistic, and in some cases cruel. If a person is only in a relationship for sex, then they may as well be going to town on a sexbot, and avoid the pretense of a romantic relationship altogether.
I’d like to add in that I think that this society has set the bar for beauty amazingly high. There are a whole lot of people out there whose fantasies revolve around actors, actresses, supermodels, and athletes, who themselves are nowhere near that standard of beauty. Sexbots will let them fulfill those fantasies, with no emotional investment. Will people who own a sexbot (or a few sexbots) ever be satisfied with an average looking human? How will people compete with a beautiful, perpetually willing, completely undemanding sexbot as competition?
For some people, that desire for intimacy in a sexual companion just isn’t there. For more people, it’s too much of a sacrifice to give up the time needed to find, cultivate, and maintain a good relationship if sex can be found otherwise. Heck, prostitution is still a booming business.
You bring up an excellent issue, though. How would you feel about moving in with a partner who has a sexbot? If you found your partner using the sexbot, would you feel cheated upon? Would the dynamic of the relationship be changed by the presence of an always-willing, physically beautiful partner? For instance… let’s say that your partner makes advances towards you, and is obviously in the mood. Would you feel as secure in telling them you’re not into it right now, if you knew that the sexbot always would be there? What if there’s something sexual you’re unwilling to try, but your partner is interested in. Would you try it, knowing that the sexbot could fulfill his needs if you don’t? What if your partner wants a threesome with you and the sexbot?
Nah; these are very limited in their AI capacity. Like I said, just a programmed set of responses to different stimuli. Nothing more than a non-player character in a computer game. Unless you want to debate the ethics of shooting Nazis in Wolfenstein 3D, of course.
Agreed. So, I assume, there would be rape programs that could be uploaded to sexbots, making them seem like unwilling partners. Simulating terror, resistance, and so on. Which, while admittedly disturbing, could provide an outlet for rape fantasies that would possibly keep a potential rapist from preying on real women. Or, maybe, would provide practice for the real thing. Which is more likely?
And here you bring up the most fascinating point of all. I’ve postulated that, given on-demand sexual release, the sexually repressed would be able to devote themselves to other productive pursuits. However, as you’ve pointed out here, I’m not sure how much human endeavor is motivated by the quest for sex. Is there anyone out there passionately pursuing a career goal without thinking, once in a while, that “If I do this really well, maybe it’ll get me laid”? What if the sexual impetus is removed?
Yes. I have a couple of friends who, despite being nice, good-looking guys, consider it to be too much trouble to go looking for dates. Their lives are otherwise complete; they’ve got good jobs, friends, hobbies, and so forth. But they’re not really inclined towards being involved with women. And I’m not really sure that that’s a bad thing; I can’t see either of them being very happy giving up the independence that they treasure.
Dan Savage, sex columnist extraordinaire, had something to say about this in a column from a while back. I’d post a link, but searching Savage’s colums for words like masturbation is pretty pointless. Anyway, he was asked whether he thought that a person was masturbating too much, and replied that, while masturbation in itself is pretty harmless, it can rob you of your motivation to get out there and find someone to have sex with if you’re wanking frequently at home.
So, to answer your question I’d have to say that for some people, masturbation keeps them from dating. Imagine how flooded the singles bars would become if suddenly nobody could gratify themselves. It’s an outlet for sexual desire. Now, what happens when there’s a new outlet, which is much closer to reality than manual stimulation? Will the singles bars clear out? Will there be prostitutes out of work? Will the drive-thru wedding chapels in Vegas do less business?
Wow… another odd thought… sexbot brothels. For those who can’t afford their own, or who want some variety. How would you regulate that?
Actually, sexbots would be easier to clean than humans. Most sex partners don’t take too well to boiling water, high-pressure sprays and strong antibacterial agents, especially not when applied to various orifices. Sexbots wouldn’t have a problem being squeaky-clean. Maybe there’d be sexbot cleaning machines, much like ball cleaning machines at bowling alleys.
Very hygenic, and much less of a chance of catching anything than at a human-staffed brothel. And very, very little chance of getting your sexbot pregnant.
Which makes me wonder if bot-swapping clubs will be popular. Tired of your own sexbot? Trade with a friend for a week.
And in less “practical” terms, how much have art, music, drama etc. been stimulated by sexual longing and frustration?
For starters, compare artistic achievements of the 19th and 20th centuries. While we may not be dealing with cause and effect here, the “repressed” generations seem to have produced much higher quality art.
Unless artists of all generations have uniformly been licentious swine…
