back to article It's time for humanity to embrace SEX ROBOTS. For, uh, science, of course

Humankind is still considering whether we could create sex robots – but should we, considering the ethical and legal questions arising from the creation of sex data and non-adult sex robots? During August's extraordinarily warm and enjoyable Electromagnetic Field festival, Dr Kate Devlin, a researcher at Goldsmith's department …

  1. Pompous Git Silver badge

    “While males are the chief buyer of human sex, females are more likely to purchase artificial nonhuman substitutes such as vibrators that stimulate a discrete part of the body rather than purchase an adult or child for sex.”

    Gotta worry about the validity of opinions of those who can't distinguish between ownership and rental.

    1. d3vy

      "Gotta worry about the validity of opinions of those who can't distinguish between ownership and rental"

      What's wrong with the pretty woman option of a short term lease with option to buy at the end?

    2. P. Lee

      >Gotta worry about the validity of opinions of those who can't distinguish between ownership and rental.

      Indeed, though I think the correct reading - the point the author was trying to make - is that men purchase sex (a sexual encounter/event) whereas women purchase toys.

      1. Pompous Git Silver badge

        Indeed, though I think the correct reading - the point the author was trying to make - is that men purchase sex (a sexual encounter/event) whereas women purchase toys.

        IOW women objectify sex and men prefer something more emotional; directly contra the feminist narrative. This is a very interesting conversation...

        1. Farnet

          I ddint know the Isle of Wight had such strong opinions on the matter

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The other is that it could act as a gateway or normalisation which could lead to more abuse.

    Has there ever been any studies or actual evidence for anything being a "gateway" to aggravate any impulse? It always seems very hand-wavy and witch-hunty to me. Cannabis being a gateway to heroin, video games being a gateway to criminality, D&D being a gateway to Satan worship, etc.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      In my experience, there is always a study for linkage. It usually consists of only processing the top 100 or so people who "prove" your point, calling them the random sample that "conclusively" links X to Y across the board, but it is usually there.

      Gotta have paper to wave while claiming you're right after all

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Gateway claims are always pretty wild and have a lot to do with confusing correlation to causation.

        It's like the whole "Cannabis leads to harder drug" concept, the correlation is more likely down to some drug dealers wanting to move punters onto harder more profitable drugs than cannabis makes you want harder drugs.

        Watching violent media makes you more violent etc, etc, etc.

        But I'm yet to venture out to make my "study" using 12 people and no double blind groups to sell my paper to the tabloids.

        On the other hand it's all an interesting talking point, personally I await the delivery of decent sex toys for men.

    2. Paul Kinsler

      actual evidence for anything being a "gateway"?

      Just because there are many dubious and/or overblown "gateway" claims, typically being somewhat doom-laden, does not mean there are no "gateway" like scenarios which actually occur.

      Notably, I might recast a common, and largely uncontentious narrative of the form "inspirational teacher in year X led me to do Y" as a "gateway experience in year X led me to do Y" - the actual events haven't altered, just the language used.

      Further, there could easily be competing analyses of a situation, with A claiming that there is no significant gateway effect since very few in its presence went further, while B might be able to point out that the posited "gateway" was crucial in the progression of those susceptible individuals.

      It seems to me that the existence of a "gateway" does not demand that everyone walks on through it; and evidence for or against a claimed gateway effect needs to look at the specific situation. But I don't think that it's an unreasonable thing to hypothesize that one /might/ occur in a novel situation, as is done here.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: actual evidence for anything being a "gateway"?

        "Notably, I might recast a common, and largely uncontentious narrative of the form "inspirational teacher in year X led me to do Y" as a "gateway experience in year X led me to do Y" - the actual events haven't altered, just the language used."

        It's interesting though, it could have been presented that "X class is a gateway to doing Y" where as it was teacher Z that was the cause, in a class with teacher N nobody went on to do Y.

        Or maybe it was syllabus P that was the reason teacher Z was so good and teacher N just wasn't as able to deliver syllabus P.

        I think it's a notable and uncontentious example because it's nice and fits a well liked narrative by everyone involved.

        Like I said interesting.

      2. P. Lee

        Re: actual evidence for anything being a "gateway"?

        Is spending ten minutes on pornhub the gateway for spending five hours on pornhub? Is a "hot hatch" a gateway to higher-performance cars? Are low-alcohol drinks a gateway to more inebriating content? Is simulated sex on the dance-floor a gateway to the real thing? Is a cheap, hand-me-down smartphone a gateway to a far more expensive option, or life-eating social-media usage? Does going to the cinema on a Sunday morning tend to lead to a less productive Sunday afternoon? Could one hit of cocaine be the gateway to a damaging habit?

        Whether its correlation or causation, does it really matter? Would you go out with a man who's murdered several of his wives? Do you think murdering the fourth one was easier for him than the first?

    3. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

      I'm not sure about gateways creating a desire for the next step up the ladder 'o doom. But I'm pretty sure there is evidence for "normalisation" of behaviours leading to more of them. Quite how strong that evidence is, and whether it's going to get debunked in future is another matter. But I think there's been some evidence for the "nudge" type stuff that's so popular in government and big business at the moment. From offering you that humungous chocolate bar while you're buying someting in Smiths to the things like how you state things. So there have been some studies (though I've heard rumblings of opposition and not myself read the papers) where they got numbers of missed doctors appointments down by just changing the terminology. Signs saying, "almost 10% of people miss appointments and waste our time please stop doing this" are argued to normalise the behaviour - whereas the sign "over 95% of patients attend booked appointments please help us to improve this" apparently do get missed appointments down. This is just linked to social conditioning.

      I've then seen people working with child sex offenders saying that there's a rise in people actively pursuing the behaviours. One argument is that this stuff was harder to get, but also it was harder to find like-minded people, since it's not something you can just bring up in conversation. But with the internet, you can find that you're not the only person like you. Now whether the extra access to child porn the internet gives is the cause of a rise in use, or whether it's down to a reinforcement of behaviours due to finding a "peer group" is another matter, and I don't know if the trick-cyclists have come to a conclusion on that. Or even if there's a way to experimentally validate it.

      Social conditioning is a powerful influence on our behaviour.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Lets be honest, a lot of us are on the straight and narrow because the risk of criminal convictions or social knowledge causing irreparable harm to our social lives and careers. Combined with the fact that it's just not a part of our make up.

        As to other things, I find that the discussion quickly goes to the more unacceptable (and far rarer) behaviours.

        I mean I think most of us jumped to the staple, child abuse, violence and drugs. As opposed to more normal things, wanking, which is what it would mostly be used as a replacement for, and being lonely and anti social.

        Most people just use a knife to make dinner, some people stab other people. I suspect sex robots would largely be used for a wanking replacement. I ponder whether men or women would be the main user, there is a very large stigma about men not "getting it" which I guess is why there are so few male sex toys in the west at least. If you're not able to bed a member of the opposite sex you should be at home wallowing in self pity with your trusty right (or left) hand or being a terrible person with a lady of the night. So I doubt shagging an android would do anything to remove the stigma that you need to be doing the naughty with a member of the opposite.

        Interesting.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: why there are so few male sex toys in the west at least.

          I think that the reason that there are so few heterosexual male targeted sex toys compared with female targeted ones is that the human hand is a pretty damn good way of physically stimulating the male sex bits. Since most blokes have at least 1 functioning hand which they can use to de-pressurise their nuts at will, there is less need for them to go and find a wank assistance tool. On the other hand female targeted sex toys are often designed to provide stimulation that would be difficult to accomplish by hand. I think women's bodies provide a lot more opportunities for sexual pleasure than men's do, or at least than most hetro men are prepared to accept that they do.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: why there are so few male sex toys in the west at least.

            while it's perfectly possible to get off with your hand it isn't exactly very rewarding and tends to be rather utilitarian. Last time I was in Japan a bunch of my mates purchased me a "parody cup" which I of course "played" with. The satisfaction levels were an order of magnitude greater. Followed by the guilt that I just filled what was for all intent of purposes "a cardboard tube with foam and lube" with my seed.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        "But I'm pretty sure there is evidence for "normalisation" of behaviours leading to more of them."

        As I understand it there definitely is, via "cognitive dissonance" and "the offending spiral" (think that's the right name). The former is where you keep telling yourself something isn't too bad / is fine, until such time as your mental baseline shifts so you genuinely believe that. The latter is where that dissonance repeats itself taking you further and further away from the societal norm. That might be drugs, where weed's a bit naughty > weed is fine > speed is a bit naughty > speed is fine etc, or anything else where it's possible to gradually progress from the norm.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          No, that isn't what Cognitive Dissonance is at all.

          Cognitive Dissonance is when you get angry because someone has evidence that contradicts your beliefs. That's ... pretty much all it is. Like many psychological terms it gets abused more often than it is properly used.

          1. Shades

            No, that's not pretty much all it is.

            Its also the mental stress/discomfort from holding two contradictory views at the same time or performing an action that contradicts their views.

            Example: Kiddie fiddler with a conscience; Knows its wrong but still does it anyway.

            1. P. Lee

              >Its also the mental stress/discomfort from holding two contradictory views at the same time or performing an action that contradicts their views.

              >Example: Kiddie fiddler with a conscience; Knows its wrong but still does it anyway.

              The result is generally that one of the positions will win out. If you repeatedly acquire KP, eventually, the feeling of it being wrong will go away. If you repeatedly shun KP and destroy it at the first possible opportunity, you'll keep your belief that its wrong and stop acquiring it.

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Someone raised this point quite interestingly once.

      "Say someone has photos of children being sexually abused or exploited, what evidence is there that it'll cause them to go off and molest children?"

      (The fact that possession is a criminal offense not withstanding.)

      1. This post has been deleted by its author

    5. allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

      "Has there ever been any studies or actual evidence for anything being a "gateway" to aggravate any impulse? It always seems very hand-wavy and witch-hunty to me. Cannabis being a gateway to heroin, video games being a gateway to criminality, D&D being a gateway to Satan worship, etc."

      Being a commentard on El Reg's forums is a gateway to .... ???

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        @Shades: In your example the person with the proof that something someone believes is wrong is also the person with the belief.

        It's true that I oversimplified the symptoms, getting angry is only one of the responses your brain has to avoid knowledge, others include laughing or acting shocked.

  3. Mage Silver badge

    Humankind is still considering whether we could create sex robots

    I thought they have been around for ages, though expensive and they can't walk. However, do they need to do more than lie down or sit up?

    AI is a different story, but really that would be a disadvantage, even if it was possible. Simulated responses and actions are enough.

    1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge
      Devil

      Re: Humankind is still considering whether we could create sex robots

      However, do they need to do more than lie down or sit up?

      They need to be able to do handstands and swing from the chandeliers, surely?

      How else can one achieve the lion and the cheese-grater position?

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Humankind is still considering whether we could create sex robots

      "However, do they need to do more than lie down or sit up?"

      Their tactile properties would need to be fairly sophisticated - both for giving and receiving body touches from fingers. It takes a while to learn where a partner's unique erogenous zones are. If the robot is the recipient then the "skin" has to react in that same way.

      Without that sort of prolonged foreplay then it is only a partial experience - akin to a boys' boarding school game of "soggy biscuit".

  4. JeffyPoooh
    Pint

    Thought for the Day

    We are all machines.

    1. Fan of Mr. Obvious

      Re: Thought for the Day

      Machine, or Tool? Guessing she would say Tool.

  5. Mage Silver badge

    Dr Kate Devlin

    Devlin sounds like she has some sort of agenda?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Dr Kate Devlin

      You mean like:

      Not acknowledging that dildos come in very phalic shapes and sizes, from human to animal including horse? That there are an incredible array of sex toys for women, but not for men. You know, like men don't have urges but women do?

      Not acknowledging that there are already robotic sex machines for women or that the sexdroid (female) that caused an outcry was advertised along side the male version, which went without comment?

      Not acknowledging that the dildo was the first practical occurance of sexual objectification by reducing male sex to an object a woman can carry in her handbag? That a study into the impact of the introduction of the dildo on society would show if such things do, indeed, cause problems in society and if so, what the dangers are?

      Of referring to AI robots in human form instead of androids (aka robots limited to human form). This is a simple trick to invoke horror and opposition: Androids might be seen as okay, but robots? No way! Way too mechanical and nothing like being with a person!

      Of claiming that technology is mostly by men for men, forgetting that household appliances (aka technology) were designed to make women's lives easier (you know: Washing machines, tumbledryers, vaccume cleaners, dishwashers...). Tech in industry displaces workers to make production cheaper, not to advantage men, so she's either dishonest or ignorant there.

      Oh, and the list goes on...

      So yes, some sort of agenda.

      1. Mayhem

        Re: Dr Kate Devlin

        That a study into the impact of the introduction of the dildo on society would show if such things do, indeed, cause problems in society and if so, what the dangers are

        Erm. Dildos have been found since paleolithic times. The oldest intact one is from around 28,000 years ago.

        Whatever problems they caused have to be pretty well entrenched in the system by now.

        1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge
          Coat

          Re: Dr Kate Devlin

          They also found the box for that 28,000 year old one - it's recently beent translated as The Dominant Diplodocus...

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Dr Kate Devlin

          Probably not 28,000 years but how common place were they? How did society view their use? Was such use even encouraged?

          These are things that would make up part of such a study, as would how society's views have changed over time. These days, dildos have become quite sophisticated and are easily acquired. As you go back through history, they'd be simpler and as they'd have to be hand crafted, might not be so common. Other items might be used, but was such use acceptable or a 'dirty secret'? How society viewed such items and their use will change over time, and there was a significant change in the Victorian era when a doctor suggested women should use them to address sexual frustrations.

          There's a lot of room for study, and a lot we might come to understand about how society has changed, and as such, the problems will have changed along with it. However, vibrators and other sex toys are fairly new, so we could look to the introduction of those to see how they've impacted society and what problems they've introduced.

          After all, if we want equality we need to stop thinking 'them and us': It's everyone or no one.

          1. Sir Runcible Spoon

            Re: Dr Kate Devlin

            Speaking to my wife, it's astonishing that as a society we can create millions of different ways to pleasure a vagina (or anus if that's your thing) but apparently quite incapable of creating a sanitary towel that couldn't double up as some kind of mattress in case of emergencies.

            I guess it's a question of priorities. Part of the discussion was a conclusion that if it were men that suffered periods (directly that is) then this particular issue would probably have about 500 solutions by now.

            Not sure if it is men who design these things, but surely they must be designed by women too?

          2. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

            Re: Dr Kate Devlin

            In the ancient Middle East you could go to the temple prostitutes.

            Perhaps that CofE should look at that, to improve church attendance. Now that really would be a Sunday service...

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: Dr Kate Devlin

              > In the ancient Middle East you could go to the temple prostitutes.

              Same in Europe in the Middle Ages, the church was often associated with prostitution. While denying working girls a Christian burial they were quite happy to lease property for brothels and many church leaders were known for organising prostitution.

          3. Voland's right hand Silver badge

            Re: Dr Kate Devlin

            Probably not 28,000 years but how common place were they? How did society view their use? Was such use even encouraged?

            Depends on actual society. Europe before Christianity - common and in some societies in active use in various rituals. Just ask any scholar specializing in Early Middle Ages European history to explain to you in detail the Spring Harvest ritual of the Slavic tribes and the exact function of the wooden dick attached to the statue of Perun (the Slavic god of Lightning).

            Similar rituals were in use in Norse tribes, amidst pre-Christian Germanic tribes, etc. The god differed, the ritual differed, the only constant was the dildo.

      2. Vladimir Plouzhnikov

        Re: Dr Kate Devlin @AC

        Geez, people... you've totally confused your doctors...

        It's Dr Richardson who is the bigoted zealot.

        Dr Devlin is the one saying she has no problem with all this bot sex and what not...

        Or you read some other article than I did.

  6. wolfetone Silver badge

    Prostitution doesn't damage society. Society puts these men and women in danger by forcing them to work on the streets, alone, and without any sort of protection. People want sex, people need money and are willing to provide that service. That hasn't, and will not, change. Yet we still remove protections for these workers because we don't agree with their line of work? Already my feelings towards this "professor" are already poor.

    The fact remains, however, that the human imagination will always come up with ruder and cruder methods to get ones rocks off. Take the McChicken-lovin' man, I can bet you any money there are men - regardless of age - who have considered what it felt like or have went out and bought one to have a go with. What are we meant to do now? Ban McChicken burgers from being sold because someone used one for a wank?

    Bruce Springsteen, in "Johnny 99", got it absolutely right:

    "Well your honor I do believe I'd be better off dead

    So if you can take a man's life for the thoughts that's in his head"

    The human imagination, the thoughts, the wants etc, will always exceed the boundaries that can ever be thought of by another human.

    1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

      There was a man caught by the police with his john thomas shoved up the exhaust pipe of a Ford Fiesta. There's no accounting for taste.

      Hope the engine had been given a decent time to cool down.

      And I suppose, at least it wasn't an Escort...

      1. Bernard M. Orwell

        "at least it wasn't an Escort..."

        Society had taught him that he was owed a Princess.

      2. Peter Gathercole Silver badge

        Re: Escort - Reminds me of an old joke

        Q. What's the difference between a Skoda and a sheep

        A. You're less embarrassed getting out of the back of a sheep!

        Of course this goes back to before VW bought Skoda. Maybe it should be a Dacia now.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      "Take the McChicken-lovin' man"

      In the furore over that - it didn't seem to occur to people that a hit "15" rated comedy film in 1999 had an eponymous warm apple pie as a teenage masturbatory aid.

      In "Portnoy's Complaint" (1969) it was raw liver.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        I remember the guy that got done in scotland for having sex with a bicycle (I don't know how) in his own room in a hostel.

        1. d3vy

          Mechanics of the act aside... Who caught him? How did the police get involved?

          I hope it was a nice bike.

          1. Fink-Nottle
            Coat

            When it comes to sex my wife's a bit like a bicycle ... she's always too tired. *barrrmp - tisssh*

          2. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            What a ride!

          3. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

            Mechanics of the act aside... Who caught him? How did the police get involved?

            So far as I remember, our intrepid Scottish velocipedephile was in bed with his bicycle, in the privacy of his hotel room. I don't know if heavy petting was as far as he'd got, or if he'd taken the saddle or handlebars off or something, and and had his todger buried in the frame.

            Anyway the cleaner appears to have burst in on him unanounced. Or she knocked, and he was distracted?

            Rather than just leaving him to it, the hotel called the police, and quite outrageously he was put on the sex offenders register. Apparently no bike is safe from him!

            I'm now worried to admit that my first bike was bright green and called an "Easy Rider". I never laid a finger on it!

            Then I graduated to a Tomahawk and after that, kept my chopper away from my Chopper.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Sex robots will be illegal in the UK under the law that prohibits necrophilia.

    They'll classify it as "sex with something that doesn't have a pulse," and try very fucking hard to sweep it under that law.

    Just watch...

    Also...

    >[...] but are not illegal in countries such as Japan where manga can often feature cartoon drawings of sexualised children, which the nation’s domestic industry continues to defend despite international condemnation.

    Probably because they're not real. Any sane person (our country, for that matter) can tell the difference between fiction and reality.

    Something the UK, or most Western countries, no longer seems cable of doing.

    Also, this image came to mind: http://i.imgur.com/sN0hNYC.png

    1. Charles 9

      "They'll classify it as "sex with something that doesn't have a pulse," and try very fucking hard to sweep it under that law."

      Then they'll simulate pulses. Then they'll have a harder time defining what a pulse really is since it has multiple scientifically-valid definitions.

      "Probably because they're not real. Any sane person (our country, for that matter) can tell the difference between fiction and reality."

      They're concerned about delusional people who really CAN'T tell the difference between fiction and reality. And BTW, Japan actually has laws in the books concerning kiddie porn. At this time, this is limited to living stuff, but they're still under pressure to extend it to their manga industry (particularly in regards to the lucrative underground or doujinshi market). It helps that they already have laws on the books barring the complete depiction of the genitalia (real or drawn) for the most part.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        >They're concerned about delusional people who really CAN'T tell the difference between fiction and reality.

        If someone does something based on what they see, the problem is with the person not the source of the material.

        Unless you're advocating banning things like first person shooting games, or anything pertaining to Slenderman. (Remember those two girls?)

        1. Charles 9

          "If someone does something based on what they see, the problem is with the person not the source of the material.

          Unless you're advocating banning things like first person shooting games, or anything pertaining to Slenderman. (Remember those two girls?)"

          Except that that person's actions affect everyone else, and no one can predict his actions until it's too late and people are dead and survivors are complaining.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Nice red herring, but it doesn't dismiss the argument of "ban everything?"

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Dildos don't have a pulse, but are used to simulate sex. Vibrators might have a pulse option, but not in the respect of having a pulse. The law hasn't bothered with those yet.

      1. Mark 85
        Big Brother

        The law hasn't bothered with those yet.

        Keyword: Yet. If we look at the way government wants to be more and more into our lives and follow things to a logical conclusion... everything will end up with a law attached. And someone checking that the law isn't being broken. Room 101 anyone?

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      > They'll classify it as "sex with something that doesn't have a pulse," and try very fucking hard to sweep it under that law.

      Would that make it illegal to have sex with someone that has a mechanical heart?

      1. Sherrie Ludwig

        Would that make it illegal to have sex with someone that has a mechanical heart?

        The pulse is the result of blood pumping through blood vessels, and as such even a mechanical heart, if operational, moves blood through vessels. Although, if a "continuous flow" model were used, I suppose no pulse would be detectable.

  8. chivo243 Silver badge
    Trollface

    Futurama

    I dated a robot... No, I'd rather make out with my Marilyn Monrobot.

    1. Adam Foxton
      Thumb Up

      Re: Futurama

      You should write a book, chivo243. People need to know about the CAN EAT MORE.

    2. Uncle Slacky Silver badge

      Re: Futurama

      Watch out for electrogonorrhea - the noisy killer!

    3. allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

      Re: Futurama

      "Not tonight, Dave - I have this terrible pain in all my diodes down there..."

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Agenda?

    While not for me, I have no issue with consenting adults enjoying a bedroom weither there is money involved or not. Why shouldn't a man or woman be able to buy or sell sex of they choose to do so?

    Exploitation is a different topic entirely than prostituton and trying to say otherwise is just ridiculous, how is a woman earning $12,000 an hour being exploited? Is a male prostitue any different at all, weither gay or straight? How is anyone doing anything by choice and being financially rewarded exploitation at all?

    Why are all the questions in the survey so loaded? I was unable to complete it because choosing the closest answer to the way i felt was loaded with extra statements I totally disagreed with.

    Why are motorised Male sex toys so clearly linked with child abuse when a woman can buy a child's penis sized vibrator without even a second though (Bullet vibrators)? As the proud owner of a penis and a former Child myself I can guarantee that apart from the colour my manhood was once that size and shape.

    Why can't there just be a view point of, "the child sex toys seem downright degenerate but I have no problem with a man/woman having sex with any object" ?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Agenda?

      I doubt there are prostitutes making $12K/hr...

      But she's worried more about the ones making far less and being forced to give it all to her pimp who gives her an "allowance", I imagine. That's more a problem with prostitution being illegal though - if it was regulated under the law then what incentive would customers have to patronize the ones being run by a pimp? And law enforcement could concentrate on that problem, and leave the legal ones alone.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Agenda?

        The pimps would just muscle in and corner the market. They have the advantage of incumbency. Hard to peruse a legal brothel when none exists. And the pimps aren't stupid. Part of their work involves greasing palms to keep the cops out of the way. Unlike marijuana, prostitution requires human resources which means playing it very tight (which is essentially pimping) still has merit business-wise.

        1. PT

          Re: Agenda?

          I live in Nevada. We have legal brothels here, which run quite peacefully - they even occasionally place ads in the Situations Vacant section of the local paper for new ladies. The only place there is trouble with pimps and exploitation is Las Vegas, since prostitution is illegal in Clark County and it's 100 miles to the county line.

          1. Charles 9

            Re: Agenda?

            "I live in Nevada. We have legal brothels here, which run quite peacefully - they even occasionally place ads in the Situations Vacant section of the local paper for new ladies. The only place there is trouble with pimps and exploitation is Las Vegas, since prostitution is illegal in Clark County and it's 100 miles to the county line."

            Then you're probably too low a profile and not the target of the pimps, who would probably take over any Vegas brothel, legal or not. Remember, Vegas once was a hotbed of organized crime.

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Agenda? @AC - legal brothel

          I know of somewhere in South Wales - UK, where there is a well known brothel about quarter of a mile from the main police station, and which has in the past sponsored the local football team.

          Technically may be against the law, but it seems that the Law doesn't care!

  10. Bogle
    Joke

    The ROTM began long ago

    Given the choice between the girls down the docks and the vacuum cleaner I know which I'd pick.

    DIRTY Hoover. dirty.

    1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge
      Happy

      Re: The ROTM began long ago

      Is that why Henry's have that painted smile on their faces?

      Someone really should do a version smoking a cigarette, like the automatic pilot in Airplane.

      1. Voland's right hand Silver badge

        Re: The ROTM began long ago

        Is that why Henry's have that painted smile on their faces?

        Maybe. There was a case of a cleaner fired from one of the UK hospitals after caught on the job trying to shag it.

    2. Stoneshop
      Coat

      Re: The ROTM began long ago

      You want the XQJ-37 Pan-Sexual Roto-Plooker

  11. Ian 55
    Alien

    Fleshlights

    Stop pretending you don't know that the 'real' ones come in a variety of designs, including lips, anus, and 'nondescript hole' as well as a vulva. Even the 'alien' colours are often non-human, unless you know anyone with lavender coloured skin. Since I got my first - now old enough to vote, if it had been human - the interior design options have gotten distinctly non-human too.

    They are quite wonderful toys.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Fleshlights

      Plus, if you get caught jacking off with one it's totally not embarrassing, because it just looks like you're fucking a flashlight.

  12. TRT Silver badge

    I'm reminded of that 80s song...

    How did it go?

    The members of the Argentine, built themselves a wanking machine.

    On the fifteenth stroke, the damn thing broke,

    And turned their balls to whipped margarine.

    1. Arthur the cat Silver badge

      Re: I'm reminded of that 80s song...

      Was that in the top 10? Or just a marching song in the Falklands?

      1. TRT Silver badge

        Re: I'm reminded of that 80s song...

        Marching song in our school playground. Poor Juan. The only Argie kid in the school; was bound to end in tears.

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I for one welcome my new SexBot overlords!

    I'll go buy stock in mechanical & sexual lubrication companies so I can get rich!

    I've just imagined R2D2 with fake jubblies on it's head for some odd reason.

    1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge
      Devil

      Re: I for one welcome my new SexBot overlords!

      Hey! Is that Robo-Jordan, or just R2D2 and his twin brother?

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    <Sigh>

    People have sex; innovations allow more people to have more sex more ways; people complain about people having/thinking/talking about sex.

    Now there's your perpetual motion machine.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: <Sigh>

      "[...] people complain about people having/thinking/talking about sex."

      "[...] people complain about other people having/thinking/talking about sex - that they (would like to) do themselves."

      FTFY

  15. Roger Kynaston

    When will the Fail get hold of this?

    We can then be treated to a spectacular explosion of righteous rage.

  16. Baldy50

    Wouldn't the sex robot Jude Law plays in the Spielberg film 'AI Artificial Intelligence' 2001 have been a better choice as he did and she didn't?

  17. Pascal Monett Silver badge

    So, sexbots and child versions in the cards ?

    As much as child pornography disgusts me, if it can keep a percentage of pedophiles from harming actual children, I say go for it.

    As for the stuffed up repressed puritans who would like, once again, to banish all thought of fun, I have one thing to say : good luck with that.

  18. &rew

    Asexual awareness raising

    "intercourse is no longer necessary for procreation, and yet sex persists because of humanity’s mental processes, our focus on sex is a fundamental part of the human condition, and it’s unlikely that any AI could reproduce human processes unless it too was capable of sexual interest."

    This statement seems to inextricably link sex with being human, which is both cringeworthy and wrong. Someone should point these researchers in the direction of AVEN, the Asexual Visibility and Education Network.

    Sex is not "a fundamental part of the human condition". It can be a part, and most often is, but fundamental? I think not.

    I think it is entirely possible to have non-sexy AI, and quite possibly preferable. Sex - or the desire for it - can often have adverse consequences.

    As to sexy robotic sex aids, as long as they are self-aware and can give consent, I have no issues with what they look like - I won't be using any of them. Unless there is a dragon one. Or maybe an alien tentacle one. Or maybe...

  19. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Why should I have a say in your sex life?

    I still cannot understand why so many people think I should have a say in their sex life, that I should be able to tell them masturbation is bad, that I should be concerned about what consenting adults are doing in their own homes and bedrooms.

    Those calling for bans or controls on sex activities think I should, must, be concerned and knowledgeable about what others are doing.

    Does anyone really think their demands for controlling peoples lives stop at sex and sexual thoughts?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Why should I have a say in your sex life?

      "I still cannot understand why so many people think I should have a say in their sex life, that I should be able to tell them masturbation is bad, that I should be concerned about what consenting adults are doing in their own homes and bedrooms."

      Because what consenting adults do in their bedrooms has knock-on effects for the rest of society. People don't live in isolation. Unplanned pregnancies, STDs, and the spread of amoral behavior are all potential negative consequences.

      1. Down not across

        Re: Why should I have a say in your sex life?

        Because what consenting adults do in their bedrooms has knock-on effects for the rest of society. People don't live in isolation. Unplanned pregnancies, STDs, and the spread of amoral behavior are all potential negative consequences.

        "Spread of amoral behaviour" ?

        That is rather slippery slope.

        Still at least you didn't say immoral and bring the thought police into this.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Why should I have a say in your sex life?

        Those "knock on" effects have only distant effects on society. Almost all listed impact those engaged in such activities much more than "society". "I" do not get unplanned pregnant, or have to take treatment for STD any more than I have to suffer a broken leg because you decide to play football with other consenting adults.

        A much greater impact to society is the decision people make to get pregnant, on purpose, to have multiple children, create even greater burdens on the planets limited resources in many ways. If "I" need to know what you, others, are doing lets start there. Lets target the intended consequences of intended actions and restrict your, everyone's, ability to have children. Prove one can care for them and cover the consequences of raising children before allowing such actions.

        Even then I would still want to argue that your actions should be your business, not mine or others until it directly impacts others and I would think you, everyone, would want it that way as well. Have kids but pay for my window when they break it, and keep off the grass!

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Why should I have a say in your sex life?

          "A much greater impact to society is the decision people make to get pregnant, on purpose, to have multiple children, create even greater burdens on the planets limited resources in many ways. If "I" need to know what you, others, are doing lets start there. Lets target the intended consequences of intended actions and restrict your, everyone's, ability to have children. Prove one can care for them and cover the consequences of raising children before allowing such actions."

          I actually agree with you. Given the current situation, there needs to be enforced penalties for children over two unless one dies first. China seems to be trying hard to go in that direction, but a male-dominant society means enforcing it has knock-on effects too (an increasingly-unbalanced population). The real issue here is there are very personal stigmas about population control, as being told, "No, you cannot pass on your genes" tends to touch nerves with the survival instinct. How do you deal with that?

      3. Rattus Rattus

        Re: Why should I have a say in your sex life?

        "The spread of amoral behaviour"? One reply to that: fuck right off.

  20. lowly seer
    Alert

    Don't try this at home

    Could go very wrong if you try building one yourself as this dude found out:

    https://soundcloud.com/flirtwithdanger/silicone-sex-doll-turned-terminator-1

  21. ZeroDrop

    Is that so?

    Why sex with underage people is prohibited?

    As I see, one of the reasons is because traumatize them. They aren't psychologically fit to understand what they're doing and to deal with the consequences of it. I think this is common sense.

    Another point is, the development of human body: below certain age, the body isn't ready for sex yet and the chances are high that things gonna end on the hospital plus the trauma. I think this is common sense too.

    Technically speaking, I see none of the above cases being applied to the robots, so technically there's absolutely no problem in sexualized underage-looking robots.

    The problem as I see is moral, or the eternal debate between "escape valve" / "incentive". The japanese obviously choose the "escape valve" approach, and the moralty of the western world have a great deal of difficulty accepting this idea, even with Japan showing much lower numbers in cases of sex abuse than the west.

    And moral varies A LOT between culture and countries. Such idea of sex robots would be welcome in some cultures, but will be not welcome on others. On creating these kind of robots, I think one must consider the entire world, not one specific country - and wait to see if it sells or not.

    We already have a production of life-size realistic quality sex dolls in many places around the world, the only thing this robots would change would be autonomous movement and calling you "oh my love".

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Is that so?

      >The japanese obviously choose the "escape valve" approach, and the moralty of the western world have a great deal of difficulty accepting this idea, even with Japan showing much lower numbers in cases of sex abuse than the west.

      No. In the case of lolicon artwork, the Japanese defend it because it's:

      1. Not real

      2. Art

      The fact that people can get themselves off to it is nothing more than a bonus.

      There was also a story a while back where a female Japanese politician told the U.N. to more or less fuck off with their complaints about fictional depections of female sexual violence.

      Translated version @ http://nichegamer.com/2016/03/01/japanese-representative-refutes-un-suggestion-to-ban-media-depicting-sexual-violence/

      1. ZeroDrop

        Re: Is that so?

        I was not thinking about lolicon-like artwork, I was thinking about some japanese company I've knew about that made sex dolls representing girls of various ages, and have many doll models depiciting teenagers and children. Yes, someone can buy one today and do the "escape valve" approach.

        But on the aspects of being art and being not real: as I see it, the basis of a crime is always having a victim involved. Without a victim, there is no crime, so an artwork can't be something criminal for this reason. And we could apply that reasoning into a sex robot.

        If an artwork inspire a person to do something, we must remember that no artwork can force a person to do something they wouldn't do. Unless, of course, this person have some kind of psychological problem, and in this case the issue is to solve this problem, not to blame the artwork for the results of such a problem.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Is that so?

          "Without a victim, there is no crime, [...]"

          The UK Sexual Offences bill in 2003 tried to make "indecent exposure" a crime even if there was no one to see it. The recommendation clause 54 had a "virtual victim" definition along the lines of "a hypothetical most vulnerable person who may be caused alarm or distress if they had seen it".

          Public consultation objections raised the threshold - particularly to include "intended to cause alarm or distress". Can't remember if the "hypothetical" victim was also replaced by needing an actual person who was there (and not just a police officer).

          1. ZeroDrop

            Re: Is that so?

            On the mentioned "indecent exposure" crime:

            The "indecent" term for me may not have the same meaning to you, but the law is made upon the definition of "indecent" a certain group of people have, and in the end it becomes the imposing of the moral values of a group upon general people in the form of a law.

            Doesn't seem like a crime to me, looks like social manipulation, what makes my assumption "there's no crime without a victim" even more true.

            If there's no victim, should not be a crime - this would be the limit of the law, do not trepass personal lives and beliefs.

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: Is that so?

              "Doesn't seem like a crime to me, looks like social manipulation, what makes my assumption "there's no crime without a victim" even more true."

              Except that enforcing social and moral norms is one purpose of the law because without a moral standard you end up with amorality by default which is anethema to a society (it basically encourages anarchy). And this gets sped up in instances of culture clash where moral standards differ if not directly conflict between two groups of people.

    2. John Mangan

      Re: Is that so?

      "even with Japan showing much lower numbers in cases of sex abuse than the west."

      You have to be careful with claims like that because, yes, there may be less abuse but also it could be that the culture restricts people's opportunities to report or feel that the victim becomes blames. There are many confounding factors in a simple statement like that.

      I don't know either way and I really don't know whether 'escape valve' or ''incentive' is the dominant response within any given set of humanity.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Is that so?

        "You have to be careful with claims like that because, yes, there may be less abuse but also it could be that the culture restricts people's opportunities to report or feel that the victim becomes blames. There are many confounding factors in a simple statement like that."

        Social pressures may prevent victims from speaking out. That's why the whole Catholic pederasty business was kept hush for so long. And Far East societies have a long history of what could be called, "My Elders/Lord/Ruler, Right or Wrong" due to their strong sense of honor such that one's dishonor affects the whole family.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Is that so?

      "Why sex with underage people is prohibited?"

      The main reason is that the underage person does not have a legal say in the matter. It's like with incest; the whole relationship/inheritance matter gets extremely complicated very easily. The sub-reason is that these tend to result in dominating relationships and child abuse, which is generally bad for society.

      "Another point is, the development of human body: below certain age, the body isn't ready for sex yet and the chances are high that things gonna end on the hospital plus the trauma. I think this is common sense too."

      You assume common sense is in fact common, and I among others disagree on that. Technically speaking, pedophilia involves prepubescent children who are by definition too young to properly do it (if they're adolescent, it's hebephilia instead). And let's not start with instances of toddlercon.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Is that so?

        >The main reason is that the underage person does not have a legal say in the matter.

        The problem with this is, it becomes arbitrary after a while.

        I think we can all agree that, say, a four-year-old can't consent to sex.

        But, a 13 year old? Why? (Because they're not "emotionally ready enough.") Why? (Because the law says so.) Why? (Uh...)

        But, even odder is that a 16-year-old can consent because they're emotionally mature enough, but a 15 year and 364 day old can't?

        But anyway, I thought I'd point that out.

        1. Pompous Git Silver badge

          Re: Is that so?

          The problem with this is, it becomes arbitrary after a while.

          It always has been arbitrary.

          "In fact, until the mid 1960s, the legal age of consent in Delaware was 7 (Kling, 1965: 216). So a 50 year old man could legally have sexual intercourse with a 7 year old boy or girl."

          [Opposing Hate Speech By Professor of Sociology Anthony Joseph Paul Cortese page 85]

          “…the nineteenth century, the minimum age of consent for sexual intercourse in most American states was 10 years. In Delaware it was only 7 years.”

          [Parental Kidnapping in America: An Historical and Cultural Analysis By Maureen Dabbagh Page 128]

          1. Charles 9

            Re: Is that so?

            "It always has been arbitrary."

            Which is why most laws pick an age with some legal backing: the point of legal adulthood when both parties (typically) have legal control over themselves. It gets murky if one party is legally declared a mental invalid.

            1. Pompous Git Silver badge

              Re: Is that so?

              Which is why most laws pick an age with some legal backing

              The concept that laws should apply only to those of a particular age were mostly introduced in the 19th C. Prior to that not so much, particularly as knowing the age of a person, even one's own birthday, was a rarity. Early age of consent laws were more in the nature of ant-rape laws and were applied in a fairly arbitrary manner by the magistrates.

  22. cortland

    A distinction could be made

    It would be instructive to make a distinction between sex and biological hydraulics, no?

  23. davcefai

    Rather than waffle on about ethics and legality, isn't this a clear case of "if it could be fun it must be wrong so ban it."

  24. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    So what happens when the Sexbots decide they prefer each other, and tell us to keep our nasty slimy bits to ourselves? Will there be Robotistas haranguing each other about miscegenation with a "biological"...?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      We can still watch, right?

  25. Cynic_999
    Joke

    It's wrong because ...

    they would be treated as mere sex-objects, and robots would be dehumanised and treated like machines.

  26. Will Godfrey Silver badge
    Happy

    Excellent Idea

    I would heartily recommend it to as many people as possible.

    This leaves the field clearer for those of us wanting the real thing, but past our peak of attractiveness.

  27. Haku
    Happy

    Obligatory related Robot Chicken sketch:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKBJxZf-Dgs

  28. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    If the good doctor is worried about men who treat women like 'things'

    Wouldn't she rather have those men treating things like things instead?

  29. Anonymous Coward
    Terminator

    Heading for dangerous territory here!!

    I am reminded of the Futurama episode with Fry and the Lucy Lu-bot, where the backstory revealed that society fell apart after the introduction of the sex-bot. Mostly because men just stopped trying to get and hold good jobs and careers whose sole purpose was to impress women into having sex with them. :)

    1. Indolent Wretch

      Re: Heading for dangerous territory here!!

      A classic.

      All of human endeavour has had but one purpose, impressing the opposite sex and in the case of drama, the same sex.

      Also famous for having the worlds only genuinely funny joke about programming.

      Fry: No I love you

      Liu-Bot: No I love you

      Fry: No I love you

      Liu-Bot: No I love you

      Fry: No I love you

      Liu-Bot: No I love you

      Fry: No I love you

      Liu-Bot: No I love you

      Professor: Dear Lord! She's stuck in an infinite loop and he's an idiot!

  30. martinusher Silver badge

    Prudery or just plain Ludditism?

    At first impression it looks as if the fundamental problem is the same with workers all over the world -- automation / mechanization is stealing our jobs. If this follows what's been going on in industry then the robots are not only cheaper and easier to use but they do a better job than humans.

    I suspect that the prudery angle -- the concern about 'objectifying' women -- comes from a feeling that once males have sexual outlets that are outside the control of females then females lose a lot of their power. (...and no, they're not powerless, weak, oppressed and so on. Talk to any married man.)

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Prudery or just plain Ludditism?

      Not just married. Married with children. Biology unavoidably gets involved here, so the mother has default power over the father. Most societies grew around this inevitability.

      OTOH, if no children are involved, then the husband has very little to tie him to the wife, and this makes separations/divorces much easier unless social or religious issues interfere.

  31. toughluck

    Lots of Anonymous Cowards posting here today, aren't there?

  32. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Since we're "going there"...

    How about sexbots for children? Lots of people under 18 (or even 16) want to have sex, but society has decided there is too great a chance they'll be exploited and thus forbidden it. So what if they could have a nice robot lover instead? It wouldn't ever exploit anyone, because it would be programed not to. It wouldn't even do anything kinky unless the the user suggested it. And there could be parental controls, like no anal, no bondage, and no playing until your chores are done.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Since we're "going there"...

      They would find a way to break it in the first hour - not to mention finding out from a geek how to bypass parental controls.

      On a "no hi-tech" summer camp they would be bereft because they wouldn't think to do anything for themselves.

    2. Charles 9

      Re: Since we're "going there"...

      It would be defeated by peer pressure and the old saying, "Ain't nothin' like the real thing, baby."

  33. rtb61

    Better Come With Headphones

    As long as those bots come with headphones, otherwise the noise will get way out of hand, as sickos turn to torturing their bots for kicks, you just know it will happen and keep the sexbot repair business busy.

    For a lot of men of course the sexiest, sex bot is one that cooks, cleans and never speaks unless spoken to, I'd bet most women would appreciate those exact same features.

    So would many people make love to their bot or would orgasm just be a part of an overall therapeutic massage and a nice toasted sandwich.

  34. heyrick Silver badge

    Hmmm, interesting wording

    I am a warm-blooded human and I want a warm-blooded man when I'm keen to canoodle.

    No. I really don't. Why? Because I am a man. I'd like a warm blooded female.

    Other men might prefer a man, fair enough. However the wording of this question harks right back to one of the underlying points so easily glossed over. As has already been mentioned, there are many types of vibrator (fancy being boned by a dinosaur?) and this doesn't seem to cause much fuss. Maybe even elicit some sympathy as, well, if your (male) partner was any good...

    ...but a sex aid for a male? Clearly that would make you a fucking pervert. I mean look how quickly the discussion went to the idea of child sex bots.

    Some equality.

  35. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    With regards to child sex robots or animal sex robots, I'm generally curious as to what humanity will do when they get to a point of holodeck simulation.

    Will they be more open to the possibility of people using it as some kind of escape method (with the exception of the ban loving UK, as per usual) or will they complain that the idea of people using it for that purpose "makes them feel icky" and try to restrict it based on that premise?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Religious congregations will be expected to use their faith's approved software to control the permissible positions. Alternatively they could have telemetry to report sinful positions and blasphemies to their cleric. The clerics would have total override for themselves.

    2. earl grey
      Trollface

      makes them feel icky

      Try a little soap and water...

  36. allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

    "Female sex toys such as rabbits come in a wide variety of colours, shapes and sizes and do not appear like phalluses and there is a rising interest in “dragon dildos” too."

    FWIIW, that's quite often due to a legal background. There are countries where a dildo shaped like a human penis would be illegal to produce/sell, but something shaped like, say, a dolphin is okay.

  37. allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

    "Dr Richardson told us that she believed the introduction of sex robots would increase what she described to us as the damage to society caused by prostitution ."

    It's called "the oldest profession" for a reason. Prostitution has been a factor in all societies since there were any societies. Like it or not, prostitution hasn't so much damaged our (and any other) society as shaped it.

  38. allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

    Obvious downside to sexbots: tech savvy people become extinct within two generations. And then what?

  39. Anonymous Noel Coward
    Coat

    When having sex with a gynoid, remember to use adequate protection, such as a firewall or some kind of anti-virus software. Otherwise, you could wind up with the pitter patter of tiny laptops.

  40. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    sexbot drawbacks

    The whole world will crumble into dust because people only fix/improve/discover stuff to impress the opposite sex.

    Or was that a Futurama episode?

  41. Hempy

    If adolescent girls and boys had sex robots, wouldn't that make them less likely to be abused by a pedophilic clergy? That would certainly cramp their style however. Maybe pedophiles could get satisfaction with a child or adolescent sex robot.

    Perhaps clergy that take vows of celibacy should apply that to humans only; but not to other sex devices such as sex robots. That might go a long way in solving those problems.

  42. Rattus Rattus

    Question 4 - how about an option for "Human prostitution isn't 'an issue' and the busybodies who vilify sex workers and their clients are a bunch of morons who ought to be excluded from the gene pool. Oh yeah, and sexbots are even less 'an issue'."?

  43. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Woman are not humans anyways (I mean that they are like aliens to me)

    Women are not humans anyways (well they are... but I find them weird, alien like, especially the women I do not know and never have spoken to. The ones I do know I have no problem with (and mostly no sexual desire to))

    And for that sole reason a robotic companion would help me in living in this godforsaken world.

    Instead of feeling miserable with myself all the time, not depression, I moved beyond that stage (positively)

    I would be free of womanly distractions when I have a sexdroid at home.

    Could focus on work and after that focus on myself (going to the gym, keep my house clean, having fun with friends in the weekend, etc)

    I do not need or ask for much, just something to release tension to.

    And, of course, it would help me fall asleep at a normal time at night, masturbation and thoughts that keep me awake at night till pas 1:00 AM are just preventing me to have a normal "sober" life.

    That is my view on the matter anyways (will probably disagree with myself if I finally find that one girl that is just the right connection on both emotional as in a spiritual level)

    So I pretty much know where I wish to go with my life, but being realistic I know I will probably be (too) old for the whole sexdroid concept, like my grandparents are oblivious to the computerization that is happening to their lives.

    And think about this, I would not become some unstable madmen in the future that will destroy, murder, rape or something like that.

    I would be an healthy adult, with a sexdroid.

    If that rustles your jimmies then just walk away.

  44. spacecadet66

    Maybe I'm dense, or just not as deep a thinker as Dr. Richardson, but doesn't it seem like the availability of sex robots would _decrease_ the demand for prostitutes?

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