It's entertaining that the vast majority of money and media attention is devoted to gynoid sex appliances for men. As Dr. Devlin noted in the Guardian article, and as indicated here,...
There's an incredibly charming and graceful movie, Lars and the Real Girl, which I suspect is close to the truth of the likely male target market for sex robots.
As to sex robots for women, there's an old science fiction novel by Tanith Lee, The Silver Metal Lover, which I read at an impressionable age. It raises all kinds of interesting questions about whether sentience is required for good sex vs. good intimacy, how power imbalances taint relationships, what women really want, etc.
Speaking of old science fiction stories, Isaac Asimov wrote 'Satisfaction Guaranteed' back in 1951. A robot manufacturer designs a male humanoid robot to help women with housework. The test robot,...
Speaking of old science fiction stories, Isaac Asimov wrote 'Satisfaction Guaranteed' back in 1951. A robot manufacturer designs a male humanoid robot to help women with housework.
The test robot, called Tony, is placed with the wife of one of the engineers, for in-home testing. He realises that the wife is sad, so he tries to cheer her up by complimenting her, and by helping her re-decorate the house, and by giving her a personal make-over. He goes so far as to pretend to be her lover, in order to make her neighbours jealous.
On her side... she falls in love with the robot because it's the most attention she's had in years.
It's been a while since I read it but I think 'The Naked Sun' also has an element where a male robot ends up with a human woman, though it could have been another book from the series. Come to...
It's been a while since I read it but I think 'The Naked Sun' also has an element where a male robot ends up with a human woman, though it could have been another book from the series. Come to think of it, I don't think Asimov has any female robots in his books.
You're correct about 'The Naked Sun'. As for Asimov's female (or feminine) robots, there was Jane in 'Feminine Intuition' and Dors in 'Prelude to Foundation' and 'Forward the Foundation' (and...
You're correct about 'The Naked Sun'.
As for Asimov's female (or feminine) robots, there was Jane in 'Feminine Intuition' and Dors in 'Prelude to Foundation' and 'Forward the Foundation' (and Bliss in 'Foundation's Edge' and 'Foundation and Earth', who was suspected of being a robot) - but I can't remember any others.
Damn, you do live up to your username. I will have to go back and do a proper readthrough of the foundation series, I mostly read the R. Daneel books and some of his short stories.
Damn, you do live up to your username. I will have to go back and do a proper readthrough of the foundation series, I mostly read the R. Daneel books and some of his short stories.
How different are these robots really to a dildo, or a dating video game. I'm not even sure you can technically call it an AI, canned responses do not a AI make. Also getting some strong Black...
How different are these robots really to a dildo, or a dating video game. I'm not even sure you can technically call it an AI, canned responses do not a AI make.
Also getting some strong Black mirror vibes from this, particularly that episode where the main character has her boyfriend brought back as a robot, it doesn't work out, even something so advanced was not good enough.
This article seems mostly like clickbait moral panic Using this same line of logic we should also ban video games and movies. What on earth were they hoping for? Most men to be gay? Or maybe woman...
This article seems mostly like clickbait moral panic
The Campaign against Sex Robots raises a number of concerns about sex robots, including sexually objectifying women and children and reducing human empathy.
Using this same line of logic we should also ban video games and movies.
Most sex robots also seem to take a voluptuous female form, which Mallett says is an example of "the sexualisation of females by males".
What on earth were they hoping for? Most men to be gay? Or maybe woman to be more interested in sex robots.
Mallett says she worries paedobots may lead some people to offend against a child. "I've seen too many cases where people have gone from looking at images online to then progressing to grooming children to then offending against children,"
This one is hard. There is no obvious answer. It seems plausible that pedos would use robots as a substitute for real kids as long as the robots are realistic enough. Logically pedos likely don't want to harm anyone or face such harsh penalties so if the robot could offer a moral and legal alternative why would you not take that.
Only if you cherry-pick the sections that look like "moral panic", and ignore the majority of the article, which covers a wider spread of opinions than that. The point is not that most sex robots...
This article seems mostly like clickbait moral panic
Only if you cherry-pick the sections that look like "moral panic", and ignore the majority of the article, which covers a wider spread of opinions than that.
What on earth were they hoping for? Most men to be gay?
The point is not that most sex robots are female, but that most sex robots are idealised fantasy versions of women. They don't look like ordinary women. They look like porn versions of women: big breasts, thin waists, wide hips. They don't represent normal women, they represent men's fantasised version of what they want women to be.
"Wrong" might not be the right word but how can we as a society move towards realistic expectations between genders if we keep pushing unrealistic fantasies. I know it's somewhat contradictory...
"Wrong" might not be the right word but how can we as a society move towards realistic expectations between genders if we keep pushing unrealistic fantasies. I know it's somewhat contradictory because fantasy is just that fantasy. But somewhere I think we have to make a stand. Many of these so-called fantasy-looking women are not coming from ourselves but is an ideal that over many years have had us convinced it's what we want and like. I'm not saying that your fantasy about these "perfect" women are wrong I'm just saying you ought to think about why.
But, as she said, we tend to crave more (according to her experience, they went from pictures, to groping, to full molestation). So, on the one hand these robots could act as a substitute, but on...
This one is hard. There is no obvious answer. It seems plausible that pedos would use robots as a substitute for real kids as long as the robots are realistic enough. Logically pedos likely don't want to harm anyone or face such harsh penalties so if the robot could offer a moral and legal alternative why would you not take that.
But, as she said, we tend to crave more (according to her experience, they went from pictures, to groping, to full molestation). So, on the one hand these robots could act as a substitute, but on the other hand, they could act as a gateway.
That festival really has some interesting topics. I hope some of the presentations are available online afterwards. These discussions about sex robots are important as we've seen what happens when...
That festival really has some interesting topics. I hope some of the presentations are available online afterwards. These discussions about sex robots are important as we've seen what happens when we just take in new technology without hesitation or thought. Just the fact that we can be aware of unforeseen consequences is a step in the right direction.
It's entertaining that the vast majority of money and media attention is devoted to gynoid sex appliances for men. As Dr. Devlin noted in the Guardian article, and as indicated here, https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/pa9nvv/the-blowjob-paper-scientists-processed-109-hours-of-oral-sex-to-develop-an-ai-that-sucks-dick-autoblow, there's no particular need for humanoid attributes, but the superficial emulation of humanity seems to bring a degree of respectful treatment.
There's an incredibly charming and graceful movie, Lars and the Real Girl, which I suspect is close to the truth of the likely male target market for sex robots.
As to sex robots for women, there's an old science fiction novel by Tanith Lee, The Silver Metal Lover, which I read at an impressionable age. It raises all kinds of interesting questions about whether sentience is required for good sex vs. good intimacy, how power imbalances taint relationships, what women really want, etc.
Speaking of old science fiction stories, Isaac Asimov wrote 'Satisfaction Guaranteed' back in 1951. A robot manufacturer designs a male humanoid robot to help women with housework.
The test robot, called Tony, is placed with the wife of one of the engineers, for in-home testing. He realises that the wife is sad, so he tries to cheer her up by complimenting her, and by helping her re-decorate the house, and by giving her a personal make-over. He goes so far as to pretend to be her lover, in order to make her neighbours jealous.
On her side... she falls in love with the robot because it's the most attention she's had in years.
It's been a while since I read it but I think 'The Naked Sun' also has an element where a male robot ends up with a human woman, though it could have been another book from the series. Come to think of it, I don't think Asimov has any female robots in his books.
You're correct about 'The Naked Sun'.
As for Asimov's female (or feminine) robots, there was Jane in 'Feminine Intuition' and Dors in 'Prelude to Foundation' and 'Forward the Foundation' (and Bliss in 'Foundation's Edge' and 'Foundation and Earth', who was suspected of being a robot) - but I can't remember any others.
Damn, you do live up to your username. I will have to go back and do a proper readthrough of the foundation series, I mostly read the R. Daneel books and some of his short stories.
This thread reminds me of "The Lonely" from The Twilight Zone.
Isn't this basically dogs?
Any sources you can hook me up with?
How different are these robots really to a dildo, or a dating video game. I'm not even sure you can technically call it an AI, canned responses do not a AI make.
Also getting some strong Black mirror vibes from this, particularly that episode where the main character has her boyfriend brought back as a robot, it doesn't work out, even something so advanced was not good enough.
I should put AI expert on my resume.
Somewhat related
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/oct/27/kate-devlin-robot-sex-infidelity-teledildonics-relationships
This article seems mostly like clickbait moral panic
Using this same line of logic we should also ban video games and movies.
What on earth were they hoping for? Most men to be gay? Or maybe woman to be more interested in sex robots.
This one is hard. There is no obvious answer. It seems plausible that pedos would use robots as a substitute for real kids as long as the robots are realistic enough. Logically pedos likely don't want to harm anyone or face such harsh penalties so if the robot could offer a moral and legal alternative why would you not take that.
Only if you cherry-pick the sections that look like "moral panic", and ignore the majority of the article, which covers a wider spread of opinions than that.
The point is not that most sex robots are female, but that most sex robots are idealised fantasy versions of women. They don't look like ordinary women. They look like porn versions of women: big breasts, thin waists, wide hips. They don't represent normal women, they represent men's fantasised version of what they want women to be.
"Wrong" might not be the right word but how can we as a society move towards realistic expectations between genders if we keep pushing unrealistic fantasies. I know it's somewhat contradictory because fantasy is just that fantasy. But somewhere I think we have to make a stand. Many of these so-called fantasy-looking women are not coming from ourselves but is an ideal that over many years have had us convinced it's what we want and like. I'm not saying that your fantasy about these "perfect" women are wrong I'm just saying you ought to think about why.
But, as she said, we tend to crave more (according to her experience, they went from pictures, to groping, to full molestation). So, on the one hand these robots could act as a substitute, but on the other hand, they could act as a gateway.
Is there more to crave though. If the robots are good then they have the most they could want in a safe and moral way.
That festival really has some interesting topics. I hope some of the presentations are available online afterwards. These discussions about sex robots are important as we've seen what happens when we just take in new technology without hesitation or thought. Just the fact that we can be aware of unforeseen consequences is a step in the right direction.
That's a bit of optimism I really needed at this point in time. Thanks.
that's all I have to say