Remember the old line “No sex, please. We’re British”? It’s been replaced. The new mantra, it seems is “No sex, please. We’re robots” if we are to believe Times Online on the growing problem of robot behavior as we move into an era of increasingly anthropomorphic designs:“Security, safety and sex are the big concerns,” said Henrik Christensen, a member of the Euron ethics group. How far should robots be allowed to influence people’s lives? How can accidents be avoided? Can deliberate harm be prevented? And what happens if robots turn out to be sexy?
I remember somewhere in my pre-pubescent youth reading something about robot sex in an (I think) Isaac Asimov novel. Well, sounds as if it’s not science fiction anymore. A whole new Industry for the Valley may be forthcoming. [How about robots that only sleep with you after marriage?-ed. There's a thought.]
Remember the Jude Law character in the movie “A.I.”?The robot Gigolo Joe.What did he tell the boy before he was taken?”Remember me to the ladies”?
Westworld a comin’
“Security, safety and sex are the big concerns,” said Henrik Christensen, a member of the Euron ethics group. How far should robots be allowed to influence people’s lives? How can accidents be avoided? Can deliberate harm be prevented? And what happens if robots turn out to be sexy?”
Brit understatement. Of course they will be “sexy”. They will be designed so. That’s where the money is.
Not safe for work, but … check out Real Dolls.
Wouldn’t have been Isaac, though. “Helen O’Loy” maybe. Lester Del Rey.
Asimov’s “Robots of Dawn”.
The novel was Asimov’s “Robots of Dawn.” If they implement Asimov’s Laws of Robotics, will this preclude S&M relationships? And what is the nation’s policy toward gay robot marriages?
Hmmm– does this mean that fundamentalist Mormons can have plural robot wives? (Stepford Wives redux, anyone?)
You ought to be more concerned with the harm robots have the potential for doing.
We are quickly coming to the point where autonomous vehicles will be armed. So far, the plans are to make the firing of weapons dependent on human interaction.
But, there’s always the potential for a bug in the system.
And so, here’s hoping they put off buttons.
http://www.irobot.com/sp.cfm?pageid=109
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,42725,00.html
You might have been reading “Do androids dream of electric sheep” (Philip K Dick), which was the inspiration for “Blade Runner”.
I thought of RealDolls too (heh). For those who can’t get to the site, this company sells sex dolls that look and supposedly feel as much as possible like real women. They even weigh almost as much as real women, around 80-100 pounds each. But they also cost around $5000 each, last time I read anything about them.
I guess the next stage will be dolls that actually breathe and can walk around the room and writhe and moan on your bed like the real thing, too — for only $100,000 or so apiece. :p