Should we regulate sex robots?

Robotics are becoming an increasingly important part of our lives – robots build our appliances, clean our homes and make our food. But one area that is under-discussed is the move to bring robots into our bedrooms. Sex technology is a booming industry, with a global net worth of more than $30 billion, but researchers are increasingly warning about the psychological and moral threat to society.

What is sex tech? The sex robot is essentially an incredibly realistic doll with sophisticated movements and certain areas designed to mimic humans. There is a move to make them even closer to humans – as well as using AI to replicate human consciousness, they are now equipped with sensors (to react to your touch) and built-in heaters (to create the illusion to body warmth). It’s not just robots, though, which technology also being created to help deal with long-distance relationships – a branch of science called ‘teledildonics’ allows a person to simulate their partner wirelessly, through sensors that register their kisses or thrusts, for example.

Companies are creating robots to replicate and replace human intimacy

There are a number of scenarios in which robotics and advanced AI blur contemporary moral and sexual taboos. Researcher and engineer Christine Hendren from Duke University told the BBC: “Some robots are programmed to protest and create a rape scenario. Some are designed to look like children. One developer of these in Japan is a self-confessed paedophile, who says that this device is a prophylactic against him ever hurting a real child. But does that normalise and give people a chance to practice these behaviours that should be treated by just stamping them out?” If these descriptions make you feel uneasy, you’re not the only one, but it’s not just the extreme cases that have caused concern.

If you purchase a high-end sex robot, it can be programmed to remember things that its owner enjoys, but it can also develop and understand needs and dislikes, adapting to ensure a more pleasurable experience. It’s more that just the physical, though, as companies are creating robots to replicate and replace human intimacy. According to robot ethicist Kathleen Richardson: “These companies are saying ‘you don’t have a friendship? You don’t have a life partner? Don’t worry, we can create a robot girlfriend for you’”. The logical extrapolation of this set-up is simple: why would you bother seeking human companionship if you can purchase the perfect partner, one programmed to satisfy your every emotional and physical desire?

Such robots are already on the market – for just $10,000, you can buy a moving mannequin called Harmony from a company called Realrobitix. It is programmed with a Scottish accent (because studies find that it is sexier) and it has privates that self-lubricate to facilitate more pleasurable sex. There’s an AI sex system that lets you use Fitbit to track the calories burned through ‘romping with virtual girlfriends’ and, if you’re particularly into robot sex, you can fly to Paris, Madrid and Nevada and head to one of the pioneering robot brothels.

Is it cheating if they aren’t technically people?

Professor Richardson advises a pressure group that monitors the emergence of sex robots, and is working with policy experts to draw up legislation aimed at banning any claim that these robots can be a substitute for human relationships. She said: “Are we going to move into a future where we keep normalising the idea of women as sex objects? If someone has a problem with a relationship in their actual lives, you deal with that with other people, not by normalising the idea that you can have a robot in your life and it can be as good as a person.”

In defence of sex robots, their creators claim they can facilitate better and guilt-free sexual experiences (such as married threesomes), and that they improve existing relationships as a result. One sex robot, Samantha, has also been programmed with a moral code – if you don’t romance it sufficiently, it tells you ‘no’ and its built-in G-spot won’t activate. It can also detect when touching becomes too aggressive or disrespectful, and will shut down in response, thus demanding respect from its owner.

There are lots of questions that need answering as sex robots become more prominent. Is it cheating if they aren’t technically people, for example, or does a perfect sexual experience outweigh the value of a human one? Prof Richardson is demanding that experts and legislators be less squeamish and actually talk about sex robots – it’s an issue that, ironically, cannot simply be put to bed.