Sex robots have long been a part of science fiction, and are often used by screenwriters to show the menacing side of technology. However, this fiction about sex robots might be becoming reality very soon and hopefully without all the menace imagined.
There is now enough scientific studies to suggest that realistic sex robots will bring about a social and technological revolution. Noel Sharkey, emeritus professor of artificial intelligence and robotics at the University of Sheffield, and Dr Aimee van Wynsberghe, assistant professor in ethics and technology at the Technical University of Delft in the Netherlands, in their latest research suggests that sex robots have the potential to provide a valuable service for people who are lonely, elderly, disabled or who find intercourse traumatic.
Sex robots that look like humans can already be bought or leased for parties in the US, and plans for a cafe staffed by “erotic cyborgs” in Paddington, London, have been mooted.
The authors behind the Foundation for Responsible Robotics’ (FRR) report, published on Wednesday, believe they could herald a “revolution” in sex, helping people who would otherwise find it hard to have intimate relationships.
Dr Aimee van Wynsberghe said: “If we are talking about individuals who are not only disabled but have been traumatised, in some ways this could be a beneficial instrument, if you will, to help them in their [sexual] healing process.
“There are absolutely some benefits to the technology but, like everything else, there is a balance. You have to strike a balance between lack of regulation – so we have all different uses and personifications of children and women as sexual objects – or you have overregulation and you stifle the technology. You have to find the way to balance so you really can harness the good.”
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