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Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:
In recent years, sex dolls have become increasing sophisticated and realistic in their resemblance to human beings, including mechanized components, and are thus now referred to as humanoid sex robots. Some media outlets have gone as far as to suggest that sex robots and other social robots will eventually become almost indistinguishable from humans.
This has sparked a number of interesting ethical and philosophical debates related to the significance of these robots and the possibility that future machines will replicate the physical intimacy between two people. In a recent study featured in Springer's International Journal of Social Robotics, two researchers at the University of Virginia and the University of Bergamo in Italy have taken a closer look at some of the current arguments and predictions about sex robots, carrying out an ethics-based and critical discourse analysis.
"We started our joint research to debunk some myths and misunderstandings in the media regarding the future of artificial intelligence," Deborah Johnson and Mario Verdicchio, the two researchers who carried out the study, told TechXplore. "We were struck by how fundamentally flawed some of the ideas were and especially the assumption that the computational version of some aspects of reality are the same as the real thing."
In their paper, Johnson and Verdicchio essentially challenge the perception of humanoid sex robots as robotic substitutes of lovers and companions. They argue that although humanoid robots may look and act more and more like human beings in the future, the claim that they will eventually replace humans is far-fetched and far from a certainty.
"Our research is aimed at showing that humanoid sex robots could come to be understood in ways that keep their status as machines, albeit technologically very sophisticated machines." Johnson and Verdicchio said.
Deborah G. Johnson et al. Constructing the Meaning of Humanoid Sex Robots, International Journal of Social Robotics (2019). DOI: 10.1007/s12369-019-00586-z
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 29 2019, @04:08PM (8 children)
The difference is that black people are people. Sexbots aren't people and unless we specifically give them real intelligence, there's no reason to personify them. This is just academic wankering for a slice of the feminist propaganda funding. Nothing more. Unfortunately, because women aren't smart enough to see though it, it's probably just a matter of time before it becomes illegal to rape a robot
(Score: 4, Informative) by takyon on Sunday September 29 2019, @04:39PM (5 children)
https://campaignagainstsexrobots.org/ [campaignagainstsexrobots.org]
https://www.feministcurrent.com/2017/04/27/sex-robots-epitomize-patriarchy-offer-men-solution-threat-female-independence/ [feministcurrent.com]
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 29 2019, @06:02PM
Feminists at it again. When women use sex toys, it's positive and empowering. When men use them, it's creepy and they're obviously pedophiles or wannabe slave traders.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by edIII on Sunday September 29 2019, @06:05PM (2 children)
LOL. These feminists are so hypocritical they may have formed a singularity :)
Was the dildo invented to help prop up the patriarchy? All the sex toys don't seem to be about power, or control, unless you're specifically speaking about power levels and the ability to actually hold on to it while it destroys a vagina. Sex toys have always traditionally been for females, not males. The pocket pussy is a relatively new invention. Men only had their hands, and for some, livestock for centuries. I'm sure ol' Leonardo has a secret pocket pussy design, but concluded the splinters weren't worth it. We could argue that it just as much frees women from dealing with men as a sexbot would free men from women.
I remember on the Drew Cary show that Mimi character going on and on about her lifesize blowup Antonio Banderas doll all the time.
Women can go fuck themselves :) It's our damn turn for a high quality sex toy dammit, and we've lucked out to be in the beginnings of the robotic age. Ironically, a sexbot, especially one that could also do some domestic chores, will start to give women all the independence and freedom they want from the patriarchy. Why would they mind? I'm sure there will be a perfect looking male sexbot that can feed them ice cream in bed.
This is the old Holodeck argument. If virtual pussy is indistinguishable from the real thing, then how will humanity actually continue? What will motivate us to overcome the convenience of technology to reproduce?
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 29 2019, @06:11PM
People like Meghan Murphy at Feminist Current are pseudo-feminists. They seek to uphold patriarchy by couching their views in the language of feminism.
(Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Tuesday October 01 2019, @10:02PM
Maybe some of us want children?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 29 2019, @06:09PM
FTFFC.
Also, Feminist Current already sees certain women as sex bots from the post-apocalyptic future who merely wear human skin anyway.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 29 2019, @06:00PM
Sexbots aren't people
Maybe not today, but the law on that could change at any time.
"Intelligence" is not required to be human, or not much, anyway*. I assume Trump is human. He certainly does not look like a sexbot.
* You could probably get away with a 6502.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Tuesday October 01 2019, @11:58AM
Ugh, the woosh of "the point" flying past overhead.
Look up "the three fifths compromise" and stuff like that. There were entire elaborate moral philosophical arguments along the line of its OK to enslave objects that aren't people as long as they're not civilized (created a civ back home, learned to read, got some level of education, etc).
If they aren't us its OK. That's where the sex bot analogy impacts pretty hard, if the entire point of adding AI or randomness or whatever is to make them like us, thus they're indistinguishable from civilized people, thus enslaving them is starting to feel icky.
I guess another interesting analogy is making human women like sexbots increases the icky factor where ours are going downhill fast as the robots are going uphill. Expect some social pressure against hookup culture and bath houses and orgies and glory holes and promiscuity in general to try and push humans up higher than sex bots can reach. Partially because sex bot owners will not want the slavery feel ickies where their bots are close to the (degraded) woman experience, so make the women experience more than pr0n video stuff. You can "fix" the silicone vacuum cleaner problem by fighting the titanium and aluminum originated silicone vacuum cleaners OR by trying to improve the human-originated silicone vacuum cleaners, uh, sorta something like that...