Campaigners seek to ban humanoid 'sex robots'

Leading ethicist Dr Kathleen Richardson and fellow campaigners are concerned about the rise of sophisticated sex robots made to look like humans.

The Campaign Against Sex Robots states: "We believe in the benefits of robots and technologies to our society and human cultures, but want to ensure that robotics develops ethically and that we do not reproduce inequalities with their development that could further reinforce disturbing human lived experiences.

"We are not proposing to extend rights to robots. We do not see robots as conscious entities. We propose instead that robots are a product of human consciousness and creativity and human power relationships are reflected in the production, design and proposed uses of these robots. As a result, we oppose any efforts to develop robots that will contribute to gender inequalities in society."

The New York Times reported on Matt McMullen, who is in the process of developing sex robots capable of speech. His prototype is Denise, who speaks to him in the video.

She says: "I have a lot of dreams, I dream about becoming a real person,”

She communicates her "hopes to become the world’s first sex robot,” slowly moving her plump, glossed lips and blinking vacantly. This is what campaigners want to ban, but tech enthusiasts hope will grow in sophistication.

McMullen is hoping to sell sex robots for £40,000, but they should get less pricey as the technology becomes more mainstream and less difficult to implement.

He thinks that they will be a good thing for our sex lives, and the fact is that as technology grows, humans will use it for sex.

Oculus Rift is an example of this - the virtual reality headset is expected to be used for porn, giving the user an "immersive experience".

However, campaigners worry that having humanoid, realistic sex machines will make things worse for women in the real world, as the designs of the machines are obviously sexualised, and the robot women can't answer back or say no.

They worry that this may desensitise people towards the wants and needs of real women.

Whatever your view, this is certainly a debate none of us expected to have a few years ago.

In a decade, will sex robots be the norm? Or will they be assigned to the dustbin of technology history along with the floppy disk?

(telegraph.co.uk)