Feb 15, 2020 09:28 AM
Sex robots may cause psychological damage
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-51330261
EXCERPT: US researchers have warned that the availability of sex robots with artificial intelligence (AI) poses a growing psychological and moral threat to individuals and society. They say the technology is escaping oversight because agencies are too embarrassed to investigate it. The scientists want action to prevent the unregulated use of such robots. Dr Christine Hendren of Duke University told BBC News that "the stakes were high".
"Some robots are programmed to protest, to create a rape scenario," she said. "Some are designed to look like children. One developer of these in Japan is a self-confessed paedophile, who says that this device is a prophylactic against him ever hurting a real child. But does that normalise and give people a chance to practise these behaviours that should be treated by just stamping them out?"
[...] The campaign against sex robots is working with policy experts to draw up legislation aimed at banning claims that companion robots can be a substitute for human relationships... (MORE - details)
Evolving ‘digisexuality’ may see many pick Tech over people
https://nerdist.com/article/digisexualit...er-people/
EXCERPT: . . . humanity is entering an age of “digisexuality,” in which a second wave of sexual technologies is beginning to come to fruition. This second wave, a successor to a first wave that includes technologies like dating apps, may not only end up drastically altering the way people interact romantically, but also creating a whole new range of relationship types, many of which will not involve a second human partner...
[...] Futurism picked up on an essay published in The Conversation outlining this second wave in the evolution of digisexuality, which was co-authored by [...] Neil McArthur, along with ... Markie Twist. Both Twist and McArthur have written extensively about sexuality and technology, and they even coined the term “digisexuality.”
[...] These second-wave technologies include everything from virtual reality sexual experiences and pornography to, of course, sex robots. And while sex robots, more colloquially known as “sexbots,” are only in their very nascent stages of development, there’s a clear path toward making them far more humanlike. Not only are countless companies working to develop sexbots, but advances in robotics and artificial intelligence in other fields will doubtlessly spill over into the field of digisexuality. On top of sexbots and various forms of virtual reality sex, McArthur and Twist also point out developments in “teledildonics,” which essentially describes technologies that allow people to have sexual intercourse without ever actually touching.
This deletion of touch, of physical connection, seems to be a central facet of the second wave of digisexuality. For example, in an article published in The New York Times in early 2019, titled “Do You Take This Robot…,” Twist said that several of the patients she sees in her clinical practice have “been into… toys they can control with their tech devices, that attach to their penis or their vulva,” and added that these patients “haven’t had contact with humans, and really don’t have any interest in sex with people.” (That same Times article even referenced a 35-year-old Japanese school administrator who married a hologram.)
[...] There are obviously innumerable ethical issues with this second wave of digisexuality—including, among so many others, the moral dilemmas surrounding the treatment of humanoid robots, or any other robots used for sexual purposes, for that matter—but it’s the idea of supplanting humans with robots and virtual reality in the realms of romance that seem to require the most forethought right now. Not only is it reasonable to believe that second-wave digisexual technologies will further alienate people from each other, but McArthur and Twist also emphasize the fact that there could be widespread stigmatization of people who do decide to jettison carbon-based partners in favor of silicon-based ones... (MORE - details)
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-51330261
EXCERPT: US researchers have warned that the availability of sex robots with artificial intelligence (AI) poses a growing psychological and moral threat to individuals and society. They say the technology is escaping oversight because agencies are too embarrassed to investigate it. The scientists want action to prevent the unregulated use of such robots. Dr Christine Hendren of Duke University told BBC News that "the stakes were high".
"Some robots are programmed to protest, to create a rape scenario," she said. "Some are designed to look like children. One developer of these in Japan is a self-confessed paedophile, who says that this device is a prophylactic against him ever hurting a real child. But does that normalise and give people a chance to practise these behaviours that should be treated by just stamping them out?"
[...] The campaign against sex robots is working with policy experts to draw up legislation aimed at banning claims that companion robots can be a substitute for human relationships... (MORE - details)
Evolving ‘digisexuality’ may see many pick Tech over people
https://nerdist.com/article/digisexualit...er-people/
EXCERPT: . . . humanity is entering an age of “digisexuality,” in which a second wave of sexual technologies is beginning to come to fruition. This second wave, a successor to a first wave that includes technologies like dating apps, may not only end up drastically altering the way people interact romantically, but also creating a whole new range of relationship types, many of which will not involve a second human partner...
[...] Futurism picked up on an essay published in The Conversation outlining this second wave in the evolution of digisexuality, which was co-authored by [...] Neil McArthur, along with ... Markie Twist. Both Twist and McArthur have written extensively about sexuality and technology, and they even coined the term “digisexuality.”
[...] These second-wave technologies include everything from virtual reality sexual experiences and pornography to, of course, sex robots. And while sex robots, more colloquially known as “sexbots,” are only in their very nascent stages of development, there’s a clear path toward making them far more humanlike. Not only are countless companies working to develop sexbots, but advances in robotics and artificial intelligence in other fields will doubtlessly spill over into the field of digisexuality. On top of sexbots and various forms of virtual reality sex, McArthur and Twist also point out developments in “teledildonics,” which essentially describes technologies that allow people to have sexual intercourse without ever actually touching.
This deletion of touch, of physical connection, seems to be a central facet of the second wave of digisexuality. For example, in an article published in The New York Times in early 2019, titled “Do You Take This Robot…,” Twist said that several of the patients she sees in her clinical practice have “been into… toys they can control with their tech devices, that attach to their penis or their vulva,” and added that these patients “haven’t had contact with humans, and really don’t have any interest in sex with people.” (That same Times article even referenced a 35-year-old Japanese school administrator who married a hologram.)
[...] There are obviously innumerable ethical issues with this second wave of digisexuality—including, among so many others, the moral dilemmas surrounding the treatment of humanoid robots, or any other robots used for sexual purposes, for that matter—but it’s the idea of supplanting humans with robots and virtual reality in the realms of romance that seem to require the most forethought right now. Not only is it reasonable to believe that second-wave digisexual technologies will further alienate people from each other, but McArthur and Twist also emphasize the fact that there could be widespread stigmatization of people who do decide to jettison carbon-based partners in favor of silicon-based ones... (MORE - details)
