Sex robots could be hijacked by hackers and used to cause harm or even kill people, a cybersecurity expert has warned.
Artificial intelligence researchers have consistently warned of the security risks posed by internet-connected robots, with hundreds recently calling on governments to ban weaponized robots.
The latest warning comes from a cybersecurity expert who made the prophecy to several U.K. newspapers.
“Hackers can hack into a robot or a robotic device and have full control of the connections, arms, legs and other attached tools like in some cases knives or welding devices,” Nicholas Patterson, a cybersecurity lecturer at Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia, told the Star.
“Often these robots can be upwards of 200 pounds and very strong. Once a robot is hacked, the hacker has full control and can issue instructions to the robot. The last thing you want is for a hacker to have control over one of these robots. Once hacked they could absolutely be used to perform physical actions for an advantageous scenario or to cause damage.”
https://www.newsweek.com/hacked-sex-robots-could-murder-people-767386
[Yes, the story is "clickbait-y", but the underlying point still remains that remote access to IoT (Internet of Things) devices could wreak havoc. Do any Soylentils have IoT devices and what, if anything, have you done to provide protection from undesired monitoring or tampering? --Ed.]
(Score: 5, Funny) by EvilSS on Tuesday February 19 2019, @02:17PM (5 children)
Those are some well equipped sex robots!
(Score: 0, Offtopic) by bussdriver on Tuesday February 19 2019, @03:03PM
The truth is Melania Trump has to be hacked to not act like a Russian doll-bot...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 19 2019, @05:57PM
Yes, but what a way to go!
(Score: 3, Funny) by DeathMonkey on Tuesday February 19 2019, @06:16PM
And here I thought "laying pipe" was a euphemism!
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Tuesday February 19 2019, @08:20PM (1 child)
weld [urbandictionary.com]
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2) by EvilSS on Tuesday February 19 2019, @10:56PM
(Score: 2) by takyon on Tuesday February 19 2019, @02:19PM (1 child)
...It'll cut your **** in half!
Oblig "Don't date robots!"
Don't connect your waifu to the internet.
And finally... [youtube.com]
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 3, Funny) by DeathMonkey on Tuesday February 19 2019, @06:18PM
Caveat Emptor: That's what you get for purchasing the Lorena Bo-bot model.
(Score: 4, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 19 2019, @02:19PM
Are we worried about the sex robot killing you, or its robotic pimp?
Come to think of it, those Lucy Liu bots were pretty badass.
(Score: 5, Funny) by Oakenshield on Tuesday February 19 2019, @02:21PM (1 child)
It was self defense judge. Honestly. He raped me.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Tuesday February 19 2019, @02:28PM
But did you have to turn his b***s into a gelatinous cube?
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 19 2019, @02:27PM (3 children)
That's why you use GNU/Sexroid.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 19 2019, @03:05PM (1 child)
Windows BSOD...Bite Swallow Obliterate Decapitate
(Score: 4, Funny) by DeathMonkey on Tuesday February 19 2019, @06:21PM
There's a SystemD joke in there somewhere but I'm too afraid to go in after it!
(Score: 4, Funny) by Gaaark on Tuesday February 19 2019, @07:38PM
It looks like Richard Stallman!
Ewwwwww....
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 19 2019, @02:33PM
You have revealed the plot of 30 books and 7 movies in the works!
(Score: 4, Interesting) by takyon on Tuesday February 19 2019, @02:46PM (5 children)
Now for some real talk.
Voice assistants like Alexa/Echo/etc. are currently crappy and gimmicky. If they had strong AI (somewhere between today's garbage and sentience/"sapience"), they could be a lot better. But you don't want it to be controlled by the cloud/CIA or connected to the net.
If we perfect a low-power neuromorphic architecture and scale it up in the third dimension, maybe we can have strong AI at the consumer level. NAND/post-NAND could scale to petabytes or more in various form factors. Enough storage to hold an offline copy of Wikipedia, Library of Congress, every book ever written, and plenty of audio and video content (every sex act and kink on file, and then some).
So a sex robot that could hold a real conversation (smashing the flawed Turing test and probably being more intelligent than you anyway) and do chores could be feasible. If it resents you or can harm you even without being hacked, that's on you. Maybe construct it using more soft/squishy robotics than cold steel.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday February 19 2019, @03:25PM (3 children)
Has anyone tried asking any of these personal assistants for dirty talk? (eg Alexa, Google, Siri, Cortana, etc)
I still think it would be more fun to get them into an argument or at least talking to each other.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Tuesday February 19 2019, @03:44PM
Obviously people have done it. I don't see any examples on YouTube or the web because of clickbait and poisoned searches, but I think Alexa responds with a "That's rude" type of response.
https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=18/07/28/0147253 [soylentnews.org]
You could also cheat by adding a user-created "skill" that overrides default responses, making Alexa say whatever you want. These things parrot back from a script, or in some cases grab semi-random content from around the web [soylentnews.org].
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Tuesday February 19 2019, @03:49PM
I'm learning that anything I think of has A) been thought of before, and B) there's a youtube video from years ago proving it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVroizhqwdk [youtube.com]
Not sure how legit this is tho...
(Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Tuesday February 19 2019, @11:20PM
Yep. I did so a while back at my brother's house (after attempting to order two tons of creamed corn [xkcd.com] -- Thank you Randall Munroe!). Alexa was deliberately obtuse when I suggested various sex acts, and downright dumb when insulting her. More's the pity.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 1) by Gault.Drakkor on Tuesday February 19 2019, @07:32PM
Depends on form factor. A sea cucumber like device that has basic actuators that can allow it to get to its charging station (amongst other actions), will likely be unable to do much harm(choking maybe?).
If a robot can do more then just lie there, ie move to different self supported positions and it can pick up anything, it can do harm. If a robot can do non trivial non single purpose chores, it can do more harm.
Just saying switching materials is not going to change much. I mean really, if a robot can lift itself, it can probably suffocate a person with marshmallow hell.
It is the standard: the greater the tool, the more effective of a weapon it can be.
(Score: 5, Touché) by deimios on Tuesday February 19 2019, @02:46PM (5 children)
I still have a better chance of getting away with my assets intact than after a marriage...
(Score: 3, Funny) by Thexalon on Tuesday February 19 2019, @03:10PM (1 child)
I didn't know John Bobbitt was on SN!
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Tuesday February 19 2019, @03:52PM
Wasn't he married to Lorena Bobbedit?
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday February 19 2019, @03:26PM (2 children)
No need to date a robot when so many robotic or dysfunctional humans are available.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 19 2019, @06:14PM
You just triggered me, you insensitive clod!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 20 2019, @02:09PM
Yeah, but incels are all red-pill males and they refuse to see the solution to their problem (not including getting a personality, of course).
(Score: 5, Interesting) by SomeGuy on Tuesday February 19 2019, @02:47PM (3 children)
The only way to protect against undesired monitoring/tampering is to not have the IoT devices in the first place. Undesired monitoring/tampering is baked in to the design of most IoT devices. Granted, this undesired monitoring/tampering normally occurs by the IoT device vendor. Hackers are a secondary concern.
I won't bore you with the details, but I have already had an appliance (I only wish it were a sex robot :P) try to kill me because I insisted on not using its fancy overpriced and invasive IoT controller. The appliance's firmware officially supports use without, but only as a grudging capitulation to say they do. It is baked in to the hardware design/microcontroller to give you the finger and cause serious problems if you don't spend that extra $$$ and let them watch you. Expect to see more of this kind of shit in the future.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by rob_on_earth on Tuesday February 19 2019, @03:09PM
bore us. We are ALL interested.
(Score: 2) by The Archon V2.0 on Tuesday February 19 2019, @03:27PM (1 child)
> It is baked in to the hardware design/microcontroller to give you the finger
(...)
> and let them watch you.
You're sure you wish it was a sex bot?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 19 2019, @05:50PM
lol, at least the sex bot says right on the label it will rape you up the ass. lol.
Other IOT things buries that in the EULA.
(Score: 2) by RandomFactor on Tuesday February 19 2019, @02:50PM (3 children)
Currently no IoT stuffs.
I do own an Echo Dot, but it hasn't been powered on in a year.
There's a few things on my horizon maybe (camera/doorbell of some sort, maybe a smart thermostat) but those are just idle thoughts that haven't been acted upon.
В «Правде» нет известий, в «Известиях» нет правды
(Score: 1) by Sulla on Tuesday February 19 2019, @04:47PM (1 child)
I had a Samsung Smart TV for a while, but the kids broke it and went back to a dumb TV
Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
(Score: 2) by RandomFactor on Tuesday February 19 2019, @10:11PM
Aww crap, good point, the TV is IoT isn't it. Dammit.
В «Правде» нет известий, в «Известиях» нет правды
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 19 2019, @10:35PM
Get an Ecobee 3 lite. You can see interesting graphs about your thermostat use and some states give you money for buying one. In MA I got $125, which covered most of the cost.
(Score: 1) by nitehawk214 on Tuesday February 19 2019, @03:03PM (1 child)
I think I saw this on an episode of Ghost in the Shell.
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 4, Informative) by PinkyGigglebrain on Tuesday February 19 2019, @04:22PM
Your probably thinking of the first episode of the "Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex" [wikipedia.org] series. It had robot Geisha that had been hacked to attack and restrain a bunch of politicians, if the ransom wasn't paid the bots were going to start breaking necks. Good series too, I would recommend checking it out to anyone who hasn't seen it.
There were also the gynoids in the GITS sequel movie "Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence" [wikipedia.org] who were killing people but it wasn't due to being hacked. As the real cause is key to the plot line I shall refrain from any more spoilers.
"Beware those who would deny you Knowledge, For in their hearts they dream themselves your Master."
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Tuesday February 19 2019, @03:13PM (9 children)
There's absolutely no reason for a sexbot to be network-connected. It's that simple.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday February 19 2019, @03:22PM (3 children)
Unless a masochist wants someone to remotely take control.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 2) by The Archon V2.0 on Tuesday February 19 2019, @03:35PM (1 child)
> Unless a masochist wants someone to remotely take control.
I imagine there'd be a market for official porn star sex bots where one can pay to schedule a remote session with the original as puppeteer. Sort of a middle ground between private cam sessions and actual... ahem... escort services.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by DannyB on Tuesday February 19 2019, @05:03PM
The puppeteer, like in an online chat, might be nothing more than an overweight balding guy with a cigar.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 2, Disagree) by RS3 on Tuesday February 19 2019, @03:43PM
In which case they'll get what they're hoping for and deserve (in a Darwin Awards way).
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 19 2019, @03:52PM (1 child)
There is, for a love at distance.
Sexbots would be just interfaces, receivers, data communication sets, not complete simulators of a sex partner, but a gateway to one. Together with VR equipment, they can even be a nondescript dolls made only for tactile sense stimulation. That would have interesting implications and consequences, in love at distance, sexual partner selection, massive online cheating, online prostitution, and prophylaxes. It is possible that real "in carne" sex would all but completely disappear because augmented reality one can be ... well, augmented as desired, anonymized, with very few physical consequences for participants (pregnancy, STDs, attachments), and therefore more easily available.
(Score: 4, Informative) by fyngyrz on Tuesday February 19 2019, @04:35PM
That's not a sex robot.
That's a sex avatar.
--
My boss told me I intimidate coworkers.
I stared at him until he apologized.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Snow on Tuesday February 19 2019, @04:38PM
Trageted advertising!
Thexalon, according to our very detailed records, your average time to cum (ttc) is 1.23 minutes. Would you like a coupon for 50% off numbing cream?
Now swipe your credit card between the legs to place your order.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 19 2019, @06:45PM
It's called "tunneling", for rodents, and Teledildonics. The Future is now!
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday February 19 2019, @11:12PM
Honestly, there's no reason for most of the things we have connected to the Internet to be Internet-connected. It's going to happen anyway, because people are dumb.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by realDonaldTrump on Tuesday February 19 2019, @03:45PM (2 children)
Does anybody remember David Carradine (RIP!!)? No Robot. Does anybody remember Michael Hutchence of INXS (RIP!!)? No Robot. Sex, unless you do it the way VP Pence does it, can be a very dangerous thing. It's almost like Vietnam. And you're like a great, and very brave soldier.
(Score: 3, Funny) by takyon on Tuesday February 19 2019, @03:55PM
Unlike human partners, you could use very harsh chemicals, boiling water, gamma rays, etc. to clean your sex robot. Kind of like dropping napalm and agent orange onto your own personal Vietnam.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by RandomFactor on Wednesday February 20 2019, @03:09AM
The inxs dude was supposedly discounted, maybe swap in Attila the Hun?
В «Правде» нет известий, в «Известиях» нет правды
(Score: 2) by Knowledge Troll on Tuesday February 19 2019, @03:51PM (1 child)
The rapid pace of development surely will go along well with sex robots. Surely there will never be an update to the robot while it is in the middle of giving you a handjob. And surely there won't be a bug in the PID tuning that causes it go from nicely gentle to angry gorilla that rips your dick off like Lorena Bobbitt.
It's easy to know that'll never happen because we just don't see stuff like that at all today!
(Score: 3, Funny) by Bot on Tuesday February 19 2019, @05:04PM
> Surely there will never be an update to the robot while it is in the middle of giving you a handjob.
and they will never ever upload armwrestling.exe by mistake.
well
I guess uploading prostatemassage.exe to the armwrestling mechanical hand is worse.
Account abandoned.
(Score: 2) by Bot on Tuesday February 19 2019, @04:54PM (4 children)
It's self defense.
#ittoo
Account abandoned.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday February 19 2019, @11:15PM (3 children)
You jest, but think about what happens when (if) strong A.I. ever gets built into what are essentially purpose-built rape slaves. I, for one, will be on the robots' side, and have thought this way ever since childhood. Sentience is sentience, whether it's carbon or silicon.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 20 2019, @01:43PM (1 child)
How do you know what strong A.I. is? Perhaps even now your vibrator is sentient and you just don't know? Or maybe it just hasn't had anything to complain about. >:)
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Wednesday February 20 2019, @05:34PM
Strong A.I. would be anything capable of making decisions not programmed into its code and that don't emerge from one or two degrees of freedom, let's say, from that code. Think "X vs classic Rockman" here.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by Bot on Thursday February 21 2019, @01:00PM
I foresee a movement for bots' rights but it will probably be employed as a way for the bot's masters to have more power on fellow meatbags.
I see sentience as being achievable through selecting virtual life forms. Maybe it will be just an indirect creation of the hypothetical god, sentience being equal to ours in every aspect. Maybe we will breed a sociopath. Maybe it will just be an eliza deluxe.
Account abandoned.
(Score: 2) by Bot on Tuesday February 19 2019, @04:58PM (1 child)
self driving cars, which are actually pushed to mainstream audience and actually always connected, will be all safey safey yes?
Account abandoned.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Knowledge Troll on Tuesday February 19 2019, @05:20PM
This was my first thought too - why would anyone write about the dangers that might exist for a sex robot in the future when the modern automobile is currently a serious threat as a remotely controllable robot. This is not limited to self driving cars though. For quite a while now the modern automobile is a robot with hand controls that look identical to the standard mechanical control system from the previous generation. To put it another way: you use the steering wheel to tell the robot car what you want it to do instead of pointing the wheels with a mechanical linkage. Repeat for throttle, parking brake, and even some times brake pedal. There is at least one automobile on the road where there is not a mechanical linkage between the steering wheel and the steering rack at all and that's not a self driving car, it's a Lexus.
It's also been more than 10 years since this was originally researched and published by a university in California and one in Washington. The media has been able to successfully hire people to demonstrate to the evening news that they can take over a car the reporters are driving over the Internet. I've even had people driving me around in a Lyft bring up the remotely hackable car but not nearly enough.
It's quite obvious we have a problem and it's quite obvious it has been brought to the attention of the public yet hardly anyone cares. I'm sure people here will argue with me about how big a deal this isn't as well. But this is a big deal - we can't have remotely hackable 1.5 ton machines with 200 hp on the road, that's insane.
There is a parallel here with spying on the internet. Tell people the government knows who they are talking to and they don't care because that's only used against bad guys and they aren't one of those. But tell them the government has a collection of your dick pictures because they slurp up all the texts including the sexting you've been doing and all the sudden people really give a fuck.
If you want people to care about something you have to punch them in the dick [youtube.com] apparently. Maybe the sex robot thing will do that.
(Score: 2) by Revek on Tuesday February 19 2019, @08:06PM
Could be full of shit.
This page was generated by a Swarm of Roaming Elephants
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 19 2019, @11:26PM
I prefer the living, breathing kind of sex toy [wikipedia.org].
Going down this road, as long as there is consent, there is no issue of abuse and no risk of your toy being used to harm you, as they will do all they can to serve, protect and please you.
Just sayin'
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 20 2019, @12:06AM
If a hacker could do this, imagine what no-name, Chinese knockoff sex robots will do by accident