Comments on: Would You? Could You?

By: ProCyan

ProCyan — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 05:30:43 +0000

It would be the sensual equivalent of trying to extract nutrition from a really good picture of a hamburger.

By: podblack

podblack — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 04:56:31 +0000

Hey, consider it payment for commenting on my blog! *I was blog-visited by an author!! Whoot!!*

By: brucehood

brucehood — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 18:39:35 +0000

Now that was good!

By: podblack

podblack — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 12:35:48 +0000

Would Androids Wet-Dream Of Electric Sheep?

By: Scylla

Scylla — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 19:38:05 +0000

Would sex with a cheap robot be less satisfying.

Well… if societal trends in general hold true, then the first sexbots would be created entirely for men, with the goal of pleasing men, and it will be several generations before I would be able to find out whether or not sex bots are pleasing.

Luckily for me, and unluckily for men, the sex toy portion of the porn industry is designed almost entirely for the pleasing of women, as that seems to assist their male clients considerably.

Therefore my money is on the first serious generation of sex bot being designed for my sex, and looking something like the most recent incarnation of Wolverine. In which case, I suppose having sex with the bot would be pleasurable indeed, assuming it was programmed by someone with some idea of how to make love to a woman and at least a rudimentary understanding of the female body.

However, I do think having sex with the bot would amount to cheating, so I would have to refuse to do so, as I value my relationship with my husband and have sworn to forsake all others, robots included.

By: Mike C

Mike C — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 19:37:33 +0000

Sorry to sound naive, but can anybody tell me what the difference is between a humanoid robot and a human anyway? Are we suggesting that there is an essential difference after all? Are we regarding these robots as metalic zombies – resembling humans but empty inside? Are we saying that the robot has no soul but that human beings do?
This story seems to open up a lot more issues than just ‘is it weird to have sex with a robot?’. Rather, it seems to strike at the heart of what we, ourselves, actually are. If the robot was aware of its own ‘brain’ states would it then actually be conscious and, arguably, human (albeit with a shiny metal body)? I wonder if the issue here is less whether it is OK to have sex with a robot, but whether it is possible to have sex with anything else! I would love to know what other people think about these possibilities.

By: Arno

Arno — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 13:04:39 +0000

..what I also just realize, talking about interesting and highly controversial questions… how about robot prostitutes that look exactly like children. Is that a case of advanced masturbation or a case of paedophilia which should be punished, or neither/both? Law seems to say that it would be illegal (there is a law against having sex with characters that appear underage in videogames such as Second Life, and simulating rape and paedophilia as scenarios in sexual roleplay is forbidden as well, even when the actors are all consenting adults, just trying to spice up their love lives), but it is nonetheless worth asking. The robots themselves wouldn’t mind and no one is being harmed in the process either. Interestingly, the idea personally disgusts me, though I have no reason whatsoever to actually consider it immoral from a rational perspective. The only reasons I can consider against it, are
1. the idea that such simulations increase the chance of engaging in sexual abuse of children,
2. that photographs/movies of robots in such conditions could be misidentified as being actual children or
3. that people would smuggle real humans under the guise of being robots.
And I don’t really consider 1 and 3 to be that realistic, whereas 2 is really not much of an issue either; it would just suck for the police to have a dead end and for the supposed criminal to spend time in jail for not having done anything illegal. Still, I would vote against these dolls and their use, if only for the sake of political correctness and the fact that the idea of such a simulation disgusts me just as much as the real thing.

Also, what about people who want these childlike robots as a replacement for a lost child?

By: Arno

Arno — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 12:38:56 +0000

..and Bruce…

“Maybe so will her value. Would sex with a cheap robot be less satisfying? What do you think?”

What the hell? A bargain is a bargain, what more would you want?! As long as you can’t hear the wheels spinning, or it bits start dropping off halfway, it’s okay with me.
Besides, is a cheap prostitute less fun than an expensive one? ..That was a rhetorical question btw, I have no idea. Anyone else with more experience want to answer that question?

By: Arno

Arno — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 12:24:01 +0000

I would definitely say that this is fully possible in the near future. Whether it will have a large market, is something different: though extremely well-made realistic sex dolls are being sold, the market seems relatively small. These robots might just make the difference though and turn into a more lucrative business. And keep in mind that, if a person can seriously become attracted to a robot in that way, it means that the technology would be so advanced that it can serve countless other, much more upstanding, goals, such as prosthetics.
Oh, and arguing that the robot is ‘faking it’ and not ‘actually enjoying it’, I believe human prostitutes are not much different in that compared to those robots.
Oh, and on the concept of films, if I recall correctly, I think Blade Runner already had cyborg/android prostitutes. I am 100% certain they appeared in Ghost in the Shell as well (a movie I very highly advise if you like the philosophical question of what ‘real’ is and what isn’t).
Whether we will change in our conceptualization of what is ‘real’ or ‘fake’ might just also depend on how far we might go in adapting this technology into ourselves: if efficient prosthetics become so advanced that most of the working body can be replaced by them, how can we define a person in such a situation as more than a highly advanced doll with some fleshy bits? Combine this with the prediction of computers that are so advanced that one could download a human being’s full memories and simulate consciousness with it, and the borders between robot and human become flimsy at best. All in all, what is alive and ‘fake’ might just become a matter of degree, instead of two separate categories.

..I honestly cannot wait.
And yes, if the robot was made well enough to be realistically lifelike, I most definitely would. I even have a list of people I’d like it to look like (lesson number 1: always be prepared for eventualities).

By: Carmenego

Carmenego — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 20:47:57 +0000

01010011010001010101100000100000010000010100111001000100001000000101010001001000010001010010000001000011010010010101010001011001

That’s “Sex and the City” in binary. And it’s probably less than a decade away.