by FRANCIS X. SHEN
The robots are here. Are the “sexbots” close behind? From the Drudge Report to The New York Times, sex robots are rapidly becoming a part of the conversation about the future of sex and relationships.
Behind the headlines, a number of companies are currently developing robots designed to provide humans with companionship and sexual pleasure – with a few already on the market.
Unlike sex toys and dolls, which are typically sold in off-the-radar shops and hidden in closets, sexbots may become mainstream. A 2017 survey suggested almost half of Americans think that having sex with robots will become a common practice within 50 years.
As a scholar of artificial intelligence, neuroscience and the law, I’m interested in the legal and policy questions that sex robots pose. How do we ensure they are safe? How will intimacy with a sex robot affect the human brain? Would sex with a childlike robot be ethical? And what exactly is a sexbot anyway?
Defining ‘sex robot’
There is no universally accepted definition of “sex robot.” This may not seem important, but it’s actually a serious problem for any proposal to govern – or ban – them.
The primary conundrum is how to distinguish between a sex robot and a “sexy robot.” Just because a robot is attractive to a human and can provide sexual gratification, does it deserve the label “sex robot”?
It’s tempting to define them as legislatures do sex toys, by focusing on their primary use. In Alabama, the only US state that still has an outright ban on the sale of sex toys, the government targets devices “primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs.”
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