Unhand That Robot – You Cad!

In our rapidly evolving society with its ever-expanding frontiers there are outposts where far-seeing people keep a lonely vigil trying to spot incoming threats from beyond. Giant Asteroids, Alien Invaders, Mutant Beavers and the Four Horsemen – there are dedicated souls worldwide on the alert for the appearance of any such catastrophic events.

But IMO none of these watchers are more important than a lonely little outpost with the title “Campaign Against Sex Robots” which is headquartered on the campus of a remote English university. The English, renowned for specializing in sexual eccentricities, are the perfect choice to keep an eye on this incoming disaster.

According to NBC: “Kathleen Richardson, a robot anthropologist and ethicist at De Montfort University in Leicester, U.K., who is leading the campaign, warns that sex robots might come in the guise of children, as well as adult women. (No mention of disguised aliens coming to earth to harvest our precious vital fluids).

“When I first started looking into the subject I thought, ‘Oh sex robots, that’s harmless and perhaps these robots would reduce demand for real women and children,'” she told CNBC on Tuesday.

“But then as I researched the subject more I found that the opposite was true—that rather than reduce the objectification of women, children and also men and transgender people, these robots would contribute and reinforce their position in society [as objects].”

She added: “We have the real use of women and children in the real world [as sex objects] and this kind of paraphernalia reinforces that message.”

While I fully agree with Dr. Richardson that a huge proportion of men worldwide treat women as sex objects, and that if they can pull it off would rather have relationship-less sex than have sexual relations with a whole, independent person, I’m afraid that the good doctor is fighting a battle that was already lost long before sex robots came on the scene. To my limited knowledge there has never been a society in history in which men treated women as friends and equal companions instead of as sex objects. I really don’t see how the advent of sex robots is going to change that – except that perhaps a few of the more obnoxious males might be attracted away from attacking human female and underage prey with their pathetic little dicks.

In this vein, NBC goes on to comment that “Sex dolls are nothing new, but there is rising interest in robots that can be used for sexual purposes, with electronics and robotic companies hastily trying to get them to market.”

One key source of potential alien sex robot earth domination causing Dr. Richardson nightmares is a company called “True Companion” that has designed what it claims is the world’s first fully functional sex robot—called Roxxxy. (Get it? Triple X. Super clever.) Roxxxy’s price starts at $6,995.00 but approaches $75,000.00 for custom designs. Custom designs? If $7k buys the basic model, what will 10x that amount get you? The imagination soars!

And then too, let’s hope that the robot maker isn’t far behind with Rexxxy.

True Companion’s Chief Executive Douglas Hines (a guy who looks like the only sex he could ever get would be from a robot) believes there is a real need for products such as Roxxxy. “We are not supplanting the wife or trying to replace a girlfriend. This is a solution for people who are between relationships or someone who has lost a spouse. People can find happiness and fulfillment other than via human interaction.”

He told the BBC that he hopes Roxxxy will eventually become a self-learning engine that is able to talk to her owner and learn his likes or dislikes.

“The physical act of sex will only be a small part of the time you spend with Roxxxy – the majority of time will be spent socializing and interacting,” he said. “Roxxxy knows your likes and dislikes, carries on a discussion and expresses her love to you and [can] be your loving friend. She can talk to you, listen to you and feel your touch. She can even have an orgasm.” (And presumably, for a fee, can be programmed to orgasm simultaneously with you so that you don’t have to suffer the emotional agony of premature ejaculation.)

What distinguishes Roxxxy from, say, a high end vibrator? I think the distinction is what has anti-robot forces so upset, because the distinction is that a vibrator will never be anything more than a vibrator, but a robotic sex companion can probably be a quite suitable substitute for what for many men is an unachievable holy grail – the perfect female sex companion. In other words a sex partner who is beautiful (well, in a plastic sort of way, but not all that different from an over-Botoxed human female), adoring, unquestioning, never moody, never greedy, never critical, always young, never too tired, always compliant, loves giving blow jobs and doing anal, thinks you’re wonderful, doesn’t nag you to shower or change your underwear, can’t get pregnant, doesn’t spend money, doesn’t care about flowers, anniversaries or birthdays, and never looks at another man.

So what if she’s a machine? I contend that something very close to a machine is what many if not most men want anyway – which may be why the good Dr. Richardson is so upset. If you expect more than the minimum morality from most unsupervised men you’ll be disappointed at best. If men could simply acquire (or rent?) an attractive fantasy machine that would give them everything they want from sex without demanding anything they don’t want in return, I have a feeling that there would be a lot of women left behind in the rush to the sex robot store. (Of course this just proves what women have always known – most men are shallow, fickle, superficial creatures incapable of having a relationship with a woman as an equal.)

David Levy, author of the book Love and Sex with Robots, believes that there will be a huge market for dolls such as Roxxy and predicts that by 2050, intimate relationships between robots and humans will be commonplace.

“There is an increasing number of people who find it difficult to form relationships and this will fill a void. It is not demeaning to women any more than vibrators are demeaning,”

Dr Kevin Curran, a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, believes such products are about to become mass market.

“We would be naive to ignore market forces for ‘intimate robots’. Building human-like robots is quite easy once the mechanics are taken care of,” he told the BBC.

“Turning these robots into attractive companions is simply adding a ‘skin’. Not difficult at all and not done much to date as most robots are built in research-led institutions – not businesses. That time is coming to an end,” he said. “The danger of sex robots lies in what we read into them, how we form fantasies that, in some respects, become a reality — a reality where the human (male) user is expected to turn on his woman robot companion for his own, lone, pleasure. I think most of us would agree that this is very far from a healthy, mutual, sexual relationship.”

And of course that is precisely why sex robots will become wildly successful, because a healthy, mutual sexual relationship with a real woman is something that a huge number of men are simply incapable of having. It is that simple.