
AI expert says that ‘sex robots’ will be mainstream in 10 years - begrudger
https://sextechguide.com/news/2016/06/10/ai-expert-sex-robots-10-years/
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kilroy123
I worry about the ever increasing ways, humans have to escape reality, and
isolate themselves.

Drugs and alcohol. Video games, soon, full immersive. Streaming videos. Porn.
One demand deliver of everything. Sexbots, coming soon. More remote work.

Literally someone could work, eat, and never leave their house if they wanted
to.

It seems like technology is already making people more isolated. I really
worry about this.

~~~
kybernetikos
The purpose of technology is to make peoples lives easier and more
controllable, and it turns out that dealing with other people is often hard
and introduces uncontrollabilty.

Technology is an alternative solution to many of the same problems that we
used to have to use community to solve.

Finding ways to build community when we aren't forced to group together for
survival is one of the big challenges of modern life.

On the other hand, technology also provides us with reasons to connect (shared
digital activities), it breaks down the barriers of connection (time and
space, and increasingly language), it reduces the cost of connection, allows
us to share other peoples lives in a way that was previously impossible.

Most of what most people do on the internet is build community, real
community, so even while we're contemplating the dangers, let's not get too
pessimistic.

~~~
legulere
Technology more and more transforms from a solution to a problem as social
interactions are essential to being a human. Connecting to people digitally
can't replace real contact in person.

~~~
tomp
Technology doesn't take anything away from those that actually want to have
contact with other people in real life.

~~~
angersock
Counter-argument: trying to hold a dinner conversation with people or have a
meeting when people are glued to the latest bubble news on their phones.

~~~
tomp
Hm... Sounds like _they 're_ fine, only _you_ see this as an issue - I don't
see how imposig your values on them would be an acceptable solution. I guess a
better solution eould be having dinner with people who value the same thing as
you do (dinner conversation).

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dTal
[https://xkcd.com/678/](https://xkcd.com/678/)

"We haven't finished inventing it yet, but when we do it'll be awesome."

Seems about right.

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SexyCyborg
I live in an area of Shenzhen under massive construction (like much of China).
Surrounding my apartment complex on three sides are constructions projects
filled with many thousands of migrant workers- all male. They will be working
on the project for at least six months before they can go home. Shenzhen has
modernized- so has no real “red light district” like it used to or some
Chinese cities still have. There is no chance these men can have sex for at
least 6 months. When they go home there is a very good chance they still will
not be able to have sex since most young women have migrated to the cities.
These men are all very polite. I have never experienced anything worse than a
shy smile. How long will that last for?

Of course a meal made by a wife tastes best, a husband who carries your bags
most romantic, a true lover- of course, but Chinese have to be realistic due
to our circumstance. So are very, very interested in automating some forms of
manual labor. This technology is spoken of all the time. We have few other
options if we want to keep a stable society. Most of those options are not
very good for women.

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lifeisstillgood
So, if one has a device attached to ones genitals and it is remote controlled
by another person does that constitute adultery or masterbation? If it is a
script controlling it based on physiological responses?

I suspect that the phone sex lines that exist are more masterbation than
adultery - but then phone sex with ones girlfriend is what?

Human sexuality - complicated innit. Won't get simpler with robots in the way.

~~~
DonaldFisk
> So, if one has a device attached to ones genitals and it is remote
> controlled by another person

There's a word for that, and it's "teledildonics". The term was invented by
none other than Ted Nelson.

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caruana
I would say that a positive effect of sex robots could be the reduction (and
possibly elimination) of female human trafficking. Overall, I don't think
people will just abandon human contact, but the underserved segment of people
who already struggle with those social norms will have a better outlet -
rather than providing a market to a horrible and dehumanizing industry.

~~~
Mz
I hope you are right, but I am also halfway expecting to see someone complain
at some point that sex bots are just another form of automation taking our
jobs and yet another reason why we need basic income.

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gonyea
In other news, Boston Dynamics announces their latest pivot.

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cs2818
I would imagine that humans will maintain a wide variety of relationships with
"sex robots", with some treating them mostly as tools/appliances and others
seeking social relationships.

Interestingly, I've been a researcher in the field of human-robot interaction
for around five years now and sex robots are for the most part unexplored
within HRI academic research.

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grondilu
Frankly I don't think sex robots will be worse than pornography or
prostitution.

~~~
Pica_soO
In the end, it will become monopolized, organized prostitution, you will have
to marry your sex-robot. Catholic. And have at least one offspring (either
machine or man).

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rokosbasilisk
Great. The more options the better. For the men and women who can't form
relationships. This is better than nothing.

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zxcvvcxz
Maybe this can be a good thing. Market competition providing an alternative
for certain, shall we say, _needs_ , means that the ones providing them in the
past need to compete in other ways and provide more value.

On the flip side, you think the marriage rates are low now? Just you wait...

~~~
waterhouse
> On the flip side, you think the marriage rates are low now? Just you wait...

Is this a bad thing? If there are people who would prefer a sex-bot partner
over getting married, how good would you expect their counterfactual marriages
to be? Would it be _better_ if someone took the sex-bot option away and they
got married instead?

And I don't think _under_ -population is the problem we're facing...

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Retr0spectrum

        “What if it’s your first time – your first sexual
        experience? What are you going to think of the opposite
        sex then? What would they think a woman or a man
        actually is?”
    

I've never really understood this mindset.

To pick a random example, lets say that someone's first experience of playing
football is from a video game. They may end up with a "warped perspective" of
what the game is like to play in reality. But is that a damaging and harmful
thing? I don't think so. And I don't see why sex should be treated much
differently than any other activity.

~~~
ndespres
You understand that football is a sport, a game, with few long-term
consequences outside of the game; sex is usually a deeply emotional experience
with many short and long-term effects on body and mind very different from
sports.

~~~
laretluval
Seems that exactly one of the changes brought about by pornography is that
young people decreasingly see sex that way.

~~~
Mz
Historically, antibiotics and birth control have a well proven impact of that
sort. This was not just a phenomenon of the 1960s. Other historical times and
places where you could prevent pregnancy and disease also saw the flourishing
of "free love" philosophies.

Actual serious consequences is a big part of what drives people to view sex as
very serious business. Most people are happy to see it as just another form of
play time if you can nix the threat of death, maiming and babies with a fairly
high degree of confidence.

~~~
Retric
Sex has long been a far more casual activity than commonly portrayed. So,
people often have huge misconceptions about people's behavior both past and
present.

~~~
Mz
When I have spoken about sex with people older than myself, I have sometimes
been told "Well, TV went off at 9pm and there just wasn't anything else
interesting to do between 9pm and going to sleep" or words to that effect.
(Hippies explained: "It was 9pm and we were bored.") Similarly, I knew someone
who traveled a lot for work and casual hookups were just a thing to do when
trapped in a hotel in the middle of nowhere.

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dismal2
China will need this to prevent civil unrest, so it will probably be sooner

~~~
coldtea
Civic unrest in China is much less probable than in the US.

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FreedomToCreate
And on the day the Apple iBot launched with add on "accessory", not a single
soul could be found on reddit or twitch.

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ddt_Osprey
Certainly an easy way to keep people who suck from producing children.

~~~
shaqhammer
Someone can easily end up as someone with no romantic prospects without being
someone who "sucks". For example, being a male who has the "wrong" hobbies and
interests or isn't naturally attractive enough to get the time of day from
women of equal attractiveness. Sure, there are a few exceptions, but I'm sure
this will resonate with the majority of males reading this who are exclusively
into tech/aren't highly attractive.

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mtriano
How long until robosexuals officially receive equal protection under the 14th
amendment (for US robosexuals)?

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getgoingnow
[deleted]

~~~
michaelt

      Why is it considered acceptable to enslave 
      AI robots
    

AI is largely hypothetical at the moment, and whether such things are ever
acceptable or not will depend on the form AI eventually takes, if it ever
exists at all.

"The Restaurant at the End of the Universe" by Douglas Adams includes an
animal that has been genetically engineered to want to be eaten [1]. If AI
took a form where their personalities could be precisely configured, they
could simply be configured to joyfully consent to whatever fate their creators
had in store for them.

[1]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1nxaQhsaaw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1nxaQhsaaw)

