(Courtesy Campaign Against Sex Robots) 
 
 Imagine: It’s 2030, or 2040, or 2050. You’re at home with your robot. It’s a hot night, and there’s not much to do. You’re feeling a little romantic. So you sidle on over … 
 
 Stop. According to a new paper, having intercourse with sex robots — a technology that’s not quite there yet, but easy to imagine in the decades to come — is unethical. 
 
 “I started thinking, ‘Oh, no, something needs to be said about this,'” Kathleen Richardson, a senior research fellow in the ethics of robotics at De Montfort University in Leicester, England, said of her early research into sex robots that recreated what she called the “prostitute-john” relationship. “This is not right.” 
 
 Richardson’s umbrage was explained in a paper, “The Asymmetrical ‘Relationship’: Parallels Between Prostitution and the Development of Sex Robots,” presented at Ethicomp, “a forum to discuss ethical issues around computers” held in Leicester early this month. 
 
 “I propose that extending relations of prostitution into machines is neither ethical, nor is it safe,” the paper read. “If anything the development of sex robots will further reinforce relations of power that do not recognise both parties as human subjects.” 
 
 In a telephone interview with The Washington Post, Richardson — with Erik Billing of the University of Skövde in Sweden, the co-creator of the Campaign Against Sex Robots — said that she is not anti-sex. But she does object that the unequal power relationship that’s part of sex work between humans may be replicated in robot-human encounters — that will then be reinforced in human-human encounters, like a vicious circle. 
 
 “Technology is not neutral,” she said. “It’s informed by class, race and gender. Political power informs the development of technology. That’s why we can do something about it. These robots will contribute to more sexual exploitation. ” 
 
 From “Westworld” to “Blade Runner” to “A.I.” to more recent fare like the film “Ex Machina” and the AMC show “HUMANS,” robotic sex workers are a familiar presence in science fiction. But we’re not really at the point where one can cruise down to a red-light district — or click over to an e-tailer — and purchase a sexual encounter with a machine that seems human. So what is Richardson talking about? 
 
 In the AMC show “HUMANS,” about sentient robots, a family’s life becomes complicated when a husband has sex with his “synthetic,” played by Gemma Chan, above. 
 
 Like Elon Musk decrying the rise of killer robots, Richardson is less worried about what exists than what soon will. She mentioned companies like True Companion and Real Doll whose merchandise looks primitive — even creepy — but may be a harbinger of sex work’s future. She also said some businesses planned to build models that look like children. 
 
 [Why Elon Musk is scared of artificial intelligence — and Terminators] 
 
 “There are companies … that don’t have animatronics but rely on the same idea,” she said. “It’s a new and emerging technology, but let’s nip in the bud.” 
 
 Billing, an associate senior lecturer in informatics — that’s the study of information — in Sweden, said that films such as “Ex Machina,” with attractive robots played by indie film darlings, ask big questions about what it will mean when machines becomes sentient. But these big questions can distract from the robots we already have, and how we interact with them. 
 
 “To some degree, these robots already exist,” he said. “… I think that the actual machines that are out there are debated too little.” 
 
 The nascent sex robot industry, however, defended its evolving product line. 
 
 “We are not supplanting the wife or trying to replace a girlfriend,” True Companion’s chief executive Douglas Hines told the BBC. “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.” 
 
 If sex robots still look like the equivalent of the Apple IIe, the philosophical literature on their rise is already quite deep. In 2007, David Levy took on the topic in “Love and Sex with Robots: The Evolution of Human-Robot Relationships.” 
 
 “Love with robots will be as normal as love with other humans,” Levy wrote, “while the number of sexual acts and lovemaking positions commonly practiced between humans will be extended, as robots teach us more than is in all of the world’s published sex manuals combined.” 
 
 Almost a decade later, he hasn’t changed his mind. Levy also pointed out something perhaps obvious — machines are already a part of our sex lives. 
 
 “There is an increasing number of people who find it difficult to form relationships and this will fill a void,” he told the BBC. “It is not demeaning to women any more than vibrators are demeaning.” 
 
 Asked whether “male” sex robots might also appeal to consumers, Richardson and Billing said that the majority of sex workers are women — though, for the record, there is a male Real Doll. 
 
 “Well, it will probably happen to minor degree,” Billing said of the rise of male sex robots. “There are certainly male prostitutes but not at all to same degree that there are female prostitutes.” 
 
 Richardson saw the campaign against sex robots as part of broader efforts to combat both potentially Terminator-like artificial intelligence and sex trafficking. She also criticized Amnesty International’s recent decision to call for decriminalization of the sex trade. 
 
 There’s nothing inevitable, she said, about exploitation. The future of our technology belongs to us. 
 
 “It’s important that we have a debate about this,” she said. “Einstein’s theory of relativity — it didn’t have to turn into the atom bomb, right?” 
 
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 A cruel death in raging wildfire for elderly Calif. woman with M.S. trapped in home ||||| Robot ethicists have launched the Campaign Against Sex Robots, seeking a ban on the development of robotic sexytimes. 
 
 The reality of pleasure bots is fast approaching. Mechanical toys for sexual pleasure already exist, of course, and hardware developers are working to incorporate A.I. into their designs. A company called True Companion claims to be producing “the world’s first sex robot,” Roxxxy, this year. Despite questions of technical readiness and ethics, Roxxxy, priced at $7000, has thousands of pre-orders. 
 
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 Robot ethicists Kathleen Richardson of De Montfort University and Erik Billing from University of Skövde are the co-creators of the Campaign Against Sex Robots, which seeks to bring awareness to the issue and proposes a robot sex ban. They compare it to similar campaigns that seek to limit development of “killer” robots. Richardson and Billing believe that sex robots will degrade human relationships and reinforce a view of women as sexual objects. 
 
 “We think that the creation of such robots will contribute to detrimental relationships between men and women, adults and children, men and men and women and women,” Richardson told the BBC. On the Campaign’s website, these ideas are unpacked further, including: 
 
 We believe the development of sex robots further objectifies women and children. 
 
 
 
 The development of sex robots and the ideas to support their production show the immense horrors still present in the world of prostitution which is built on the “perceived” inferiority of women and children and therefore justifies their uses as sex objects. 
 
 
 
 We propose that the development of sex robots will further reduce human empathy that can only be developed by an experience of mutual relationship. 
 
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 The Campaign rejects the argument that the development of sex robots could actually improve the plight of sex workers around the globe, or that there are plenty of lonely people—of any gender—interested in a robot companion for a variety of reasons. Richardson is also against Amnesty International’s call to decriminalize human sex work. 
 
 While I do not want to dismiss the ethicists’ concerns or claims entirely—sex bots should be a topic for spirited debate—it seems to me that the Campaign should be focusing more on helping to establish reasonable guidelines moving forward, rather than an outright ban. That ban isn’t going to happen, nor should it. Prohibition is seldom a fix. 
 
 We’re moving towards a future of sex with robots whether we like it or not. An outright ban would simply empower a new kind of robot pimp and create an unregulated robot sex black market where anything goes. Why not push for reasonable regulations instead, like ensuring the robots are secure against malware, must look/act of legal age, and establishing legal minimum ages (18+) to use their services? 
 
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 There’s a puritanical element to the Campaign’s written goals, and despite their stated primary concern for women and children, a sort of sexist edge that assumes few women would be interested in sexual relations with bots. Richardson and Billings spoke to The Washington Post: 
 
 Asked whether “male” sex robots might also appeal to consumers, Richardson and Billing said that the majority of sex workers are women — though, for the record, there is a male Real Doll. “Well, it will probably happen to minor degree,” Billing said of the rise of male sex robots. “There are certainly male prostitutes but not at all to same degree that there are female prostitutes.” 
 
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 This is, however, brave new uncharted robot sex-land, and these two have clearly never seen Jude Law as a dashing sex mecha in the movie A.I. Nor do they venture into the realms of alternative sexualities or consideration of bodies or relationships that might benefit from a helping robot hand. Despite their focus on a highly advanced future, these ethicists are heavily weighted by the traditions of the past. 
 
 It’s impossible to extrapolate exactly what our lives with potential robot sex parters will mean. In the book Love and Sex with Robots, author David Levy suggests the time when human-bot relations are commonplace is fast approaching, and that they will be normalized by 2050. 
 
 We need to talk about what robot companions mean and how they will fit into humanity, not condemn them. The Campaign Against Robot Sex feels too much like an anti-porn brigade, blaming the product instead of the culture for wrongs committed. Instead of demonizing what we don’t know, we should be working on proposals to make the forthcoming industry safe—for humans and robots both. 
 
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 [BBC; Washington Post; Campaign Against Robot Sex] ||||| Image copyright True Companion Image caption Robot ethicist Kathleen Richardson has called for a ban on sex robots like Roxxxy, currently a prototype 
 
 A campaign has been launched calling for a ban on the development of robots that can be used for sex. 
 
 Such a use of the technology is unnecessary and undesirable, said campaign leader Dr Kathleen Richardson. 
 
 Sex dolls already on the market are becoming more sophisticated and some are now hoping to build artificial intelligence into their products. 
 
 Those working in the field say that there is a need for such robots. 
 
 Dr Richardson, a robot ethicist at De Montfort University in Leicester, wants to raise awareness of the issue and persuade those developing sex robots to rethink how their technology is used. 
 
 "Sex robots seem to be a growing focus in the robotics industry and the models that they draw on - how they will look, what roles they would play - are very disturbing indeed," she told the BBC. 
 
 She believes that they reinforce traditional stereotypes of women and the view that a relationship need be nothing more than physical. 
 
 "We think that the creation of such robots will contribute to detrimental relationships between men and women, adults and children, men and men and women and women," she said. 
 
 Intelligent Machines - a BBC News series looking at AI and robotics 
 
 Self-learning engine 
 
 Image copyright Thinkstock Image caption Will robot/human relationships ever be real? 
 
 Abyss Creations, which sells male and female sex toys, is now starting to introduce electronics into its creations. 
 
 Meanwhile True Companion boasts that it is developing "the world's first sex robot" and promises to launch its first doll, Roxxxy, later this year. 
 
 Chief executive Douglas Hines 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 fulfilment other than via human interaction," he added. 
 
 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 a sex robot - the majority of time will be spent socialising and interacting," he said. 
 
 Some experts are sceptical about the claims made for Roxxxy, given the huge complexity of creating intelligent machines but the first version - which will sell for $7,000 (£4,530) - has had thousands of pre-orders, according to Mr Hines. 
 
 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. 
 
 However, he thinks a public backlash is inevitable. 
 
 "There have been campaign groups actively voicing opposition to killer robots but I foresee the time soon when humans are lobbying against robot companions or at least shouting 'not in my backyard'," he said. 
 
 Attractive companions 
 
 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," he told the BBC. 
 
 As such robots become more sophisticated and are able to simulate human behaviour, so the relationship with humans will become more complex, he thinks. 
 
 Dr Curran worries that society as a whole is ill-prepared for an age where sophisticated robotic companions are the norm. 
 
 "Have we sufficient legalisation in place for the issues that can arise in a future where robots are sufficiently advanced as to be indistinguishable from humans at first glance? Can a robot marry? Can a robot couple adopt a child?" he said.
– Sex bots are coming—one expert believes they'll be commonplace by 2050—and two robot ethicists say now is the time to act to make sure R2D2 doesn't end up trapped in white slavery. Professors Kathleen Richardson and Erik Billing, who launched the Campaign Against Sex Robots today, claim the proliferation of artificially intelligent sex toys will prevent humans from forming meaningful relationships with each other and reinforce the sexual objectification of women, Gizmodo reports. "These robots will contribute to more sexual exploitation," Richardson tells the Washington Post. In an interview with the BBC, she calls these future sex machines "very disturbing indeed." But, not everyone is buying it. "There is an increasing number of people who find it difficult to form relationships, and this will fill a void," David Levy, author of Love and Sex with Robots, tells the BBC. "It is not demeaning to women any more than vibrators are demeaning." Gizmodo's Kaila Hale-Stern says the goal should be guidelines on the construction and use of sex robots. "That ban isn’t going to happen, nor should it," she writes. "Prohibition is seldom a fix." She worries a ban would create "robot pimps" and an "unregulated robot sex black market." This is certainly a complex issue worthy of further of debate, so let's turn to an educational film from the year 3000 for the final word.