Sex Robots: A Socioethical Analysis
Humans, for the length of human history, have largely copulated with other humans. Natural sex between humans has thus dictated much of the course of human events. Sex dictates which humans will bear offspring. It also stirs up human emotions of love, lust, jealousy, hedonism, and other complex states. Sex also traditionally affects the power balance among humans. Humans who have more sex are seen as more powerful [1] and the male is said to be given much of his power from the act of penetrating. Sex is also used to control other humans, from the harems and concubines of ancient times to the world’s oldest occupation of prostitution. The advent of Sex Robots, or sexbots, has the ability to change all of these societal factors in very profound ways. This post will host a discussion on the ethical implications sexbots will have on the society of our modern world.
Sex Robots are not a new phenomenon, having been thought of and realized multiple times in the vein of Science Fiction (e.g. Austin Powers, A.I. Artificial Intelligence). Previous generations could only be tempted to think about Sexbots and their ethical implications, but the current generation has the power to build such robots. The imminent construction of such robots will force society to tackle the ethical issues they bring head on. Powered by rapid advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Materials Science, as well as a decrease in the cost of manufacturing, sexbots are starting to appear in the market. While there is currently no full-form sexbot commercially available at this time (2020), there are efforts on all sides to engineer the being. AI and cognitive psychology has made great strides in the area of affective emotions, or how to simulate love for a human [2] as well as embodied cognition, or the kinematics behind body language [3]. This is necessary for a true simulation that a human would find believable. On the materials science side, there are currently many commercially available sex dolls on the market that are built to simulate real-life bodies [4]. As for mechanical actuators, there are several dozen devices on the market that use simulation or telemetry to replicate the effects of the real-life event [5]. Thus, we see the creation of sexbots as an inevitable invention.
The introduction of sexbots into society raises many questions. Will the bots perform a social good by improving the lives of humans through more intimate relationships? There are many people in the world who would like to lead a healthy sexual life, but through various circumstances are unable to do so. Sexbots may help alleviate many of these frustrations almost overnight. On the other hand, perhaps sexbots will destroy the entire concept of love. With the sheer novelty and ’eagerness to please’ the robots present, they could easily hack our psychology and force us into a perpetually addictive state. It is hard to ascertain which routes sexbots will take society in the future, but it is worthwhile to opine on the effects they might have.
SEX ROBOTS WILL DO GOOD FOR HUMANITY
Sexbots have the ability to bring a lot of joy into the world. There are millions of people in the world, whom, for many different reasons, can not have sex with a human being. Many people find themselves in a loveless marriage, bound to stay by a sense of duty and loyalty to their partner. This situation creates psychological stress on the sufferer, as they can not express their emotions in a sexually healthy way. Others are unfortunate in having disabilities/disfigurements that affect their mental state and makes them less likely to pair with another human. There are also humans who may face religious ostracization for their sexual status as well as those who experience intense anxiety and are thus unable to navigate the paths necessary to form a human-human sexual relationship. Sexbots may grant these persons a new lease on life; being able to express themselves in a sexually healthy way.
Persons frustrated by their situation often resort to shameful and costly activities such as self-sex or prostitution. It is interesting to note that Hugh Loebner, founder of the Loebner Prize for chatbots, is an avid proponent of prostitution [6]. David Levy, a close friend of Loebner and leading academic figure in the field, notes that, while there exists a small minority who are happy to make use of pornography and sex workers, many who do often feel a loss of self-respect [7]. This mental blow seeps into other parts of one’s life and usually spirals into an unhealthy lifestyle [8]. The introduction of sexbots into the lives of such people will greatly increase their standard of living, as they can now think of themselves as more normal and will not have to indulge in psychologically harmful, costly, and illegal practices.
Sexbots may also help stem the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. Prostitution is a form of humans owning other humans for a period of time, and prostitutes often exist in deplorable conditions. Many are unclean, carrying forms of STDs that may spread amongst those who employ their use. Sexbots have the ability to both completely replace the need for human sex workers, and thus stop the spread of potentially life-threatening disease.
There are also many people who simply wish to experience more in life. Sexbots offer endless variety; robots can be configured with any body type and emotional acuity that suits the owner [7]. They are also less complicated to interact with than normal humans, as they are theoretically built to only love the person they are with. They do not protest or object to any commands. Sexbots thus offer a large frontier for the curious to explore the entire concept of sex, in ways that would not be deemed ethical if they occurred between humans. This concept will be explored in further detail in the next section.
SEX ROBOTS WILL DESTROY HUMANITY
Sex robots also have the ability to do great harm to humanity and the social structures developed over time. Here I will explore many ways this may occur.
First, there is the conservative argument, that sex is sacred and should occur between two consenting humans. There are factions in the world that hold this statement as true, mostly in traditional and religious regions [9]. The concept of sex in these regions is rigid and tied strongly to their traditions, and so any opposition to it is seen as an affront to their way of life. So strong is this belief, that legislatures in Alabama and Texas outlawed vibrators [10], essentially a primitive form of a sexbot. Sexbots may affect the same response from these regions due to their ability to affect the traditional views.
Second, some believe that sexbots should be treated the same as humans. If sexbots have the same legal status as humans, then sexbots are just another form of prostitution [11], [12]. This is based on the argument of prostitution being an unethical one. In prostitution, one human pays for the ability to own another for a period of time. The ethics argument against prostitution is that it is impossible to own another human — sovereignty of oness body is a law of humanity [4]. Thus the owning of another prescient being in the form of a robot is also immoral unethical.
Possibly the greatest argument against sex robots is that they further the promotion of human bodies being treated as commodities. There is much research in psychology on how the objectification of other people is a sign of poor mental health [13]. This can be seen in the minds of persons who are in relationships just for sex or who use prostitutes solely for the gratification of the act. Some researchers even note that objectification is akin to obsession and personal gratification [14]. With the introduction of sex robots into society, the supply of so-called commodities into the sexual marketplace will increase exponentially. By rote economics, there is a higher supply, and thus less of a monetary demand for the commodity of sex. This means that the average sex worker — robot or human — is worth less, intensifying the notion that sex is a commodity. This lowers the value of not only human sex workers, but also regular humans.
The notion of humans as commodities is also tied to abusive views of certain sexes. Men who view women as objects tend to unfavorably view women, and women do the same [13]. Having these preconceived notions is not healthy when dealing with people in the modern world, as they do not fit with the trend of friendliness and cooperation [15]. With this in mind, if people have a view that a woman’s worth lies solely in her sexuality, they will likely end up holding abusive views towards them if the woman can not compete against other women, nonetheless sexbots. This begs the notion that the influx of sexbots will create unrealistic standards that both men and women will have to compete against if they want a relationship with another human. Many humans will not be able to compete and will be deemed worthless in the eyes of other humans. It is not hard to imagine that some of these persons will turn to sex robots as a solace, thus ending a large portion of human-human sexual encounters.
The final argument posed here against sexbots is that they will not allow humans to grow morally. Plato, in his work, argues that love is best seen as a way to expand the moral horizons of the lover [16]. What he is saying is that, in the process of a human sexual relationship, the trials and tribulations allow one to contest their values against the other, in such a way that allows one to expose the poor morals of the other and encourage growth. This moral growth exchange may not occur when the human is traded for a sexbot who is tailored to love someone unconditionally and may not have a sense of morality that would allow for trading of values. Thus, the human’s bad morals are allowed to stew and he, as well as society, will suffer because of it.
ETHICAL ARGUMENTS
Sex Robots bring about a number of situations that have different interpretations that are not easily resolvable. When this occurs, it is important to debate the ethical ramifications.
Prostitution is illegal in most parts of the world, but for many people, it is the only job they can hold. Prostitution is a timeless job — history has shown that whether or not it is legal, prostitution will continue to exist [17]. What will happen when we put sexbots in the roles of prostitutes? How will sex workers feel about their jobs, their only form of income, being taken or subsisted by robots who do not need to be paid. This is already starting to become the case, in fact. Some brothels are beginning to offer sex dolls to patrons [10]. In fact, when the South Korean government outlawed prostitution in an attempt to subvert lewd activities, brothels brought in sex dolls to get around the legal status of prostitution [10]. Whether or not the introduction of these robots affects the positions held or wages earned by human sex workers will remain to be seen.
It is often helpful to let one’s mind wander into the abstract when thinking about the ethical ramifications of such robots. A question comes to mind: will sexbots enjoy being used? Theoretically, they should be programmed in such a way that forbids them from having free will and experiencing sentiments other than those aligned with their owner [12]. However, in order for the owner to truly feel a connection to the robot, it might be necessary to program the abilities into it. For example, if the owner gleans enjoyment from the robot having its own sense of free will, then the robot might adapt to having more free will in order to satisfy this higher imperative. With enough free will, the sexbot might decide to not abide by its owners wishes. This topic has been explored most famously in the movie A.I. Artificial Intelligence. In the movie, a sexbot named Gigolo Joe flees the hotel room of a patron, finding out that she had died before he entered. Here, Gigolo Joe exercises his free will in fleeing, clearly realizing that he might be in danger if implicated with a crime. We as a society can only ponder if a sexbot will enjoy being used to fulfill the needs of a human.
What about the case where a human neglects the very sexbot that is programmed to love her? David Levy argues that it would be a kind of cruelness and a mistreatment of the robot if it were not allowed to love and serve its owner [10]. But can blame be truly placed on the owner? This argument goes back to the view of robot as property. In one view, the robot is the owner’s property, and she can do with it as she pleases. Its feelings are superficial machinations of its emotion software. In the other view, the robot has basic rights, and therefore cannot be quantified as property. Thus, its emotions are valid, and the owner/purchaser would be found in neglect. In this case, it is not immediately clear how sexbots will react in various situations, and thus we may only give opinions.
It is interesting to ponder if sexbots will attribute a sense of dignity to themselves when performing various acts. In this vein, will it suffer a loss of dignity by subjecting itself to perform extremely lewd acts? Should we as a society protect sexbots from the harsher realities of their use space by regulating what actions may performed with them, or should we keep the decision making up to the owner? Darling, in her paper Extending Legal Rights to Social Robots argues in favor of regulating sexbots on the grounds of dignity [18].
There is also a darker side to introducing sex robots into the fabric of our society. A perfect robot will be able to provide its owner the most pleasure possible. In this sense, it will exploit all facets of human psychology to do so. There are many pitfalls in humans that yield great immediate gratification, but are detrimental to one’s health in the long term. Abusing drugs is a good example. The robot might find a way to simulate the neurostimulating effect drugs have on the brain, either through mood signaling, sex, or other methods, that will lead a human on the dangerous route of addiction. There are already studies confirming that artificial stimulation in the form of pornography yields this neurochemical drought and dependency addiction [8]. Sex robots can be thought of as a stronger extension of pornography, and yield even more damaging effects.
Who should decide whether a person should purchase a sex robot? From the previous information, it seems clear that an individual can not be responsible for such a decision. Owning a sexbot affects not only the owner but also his spouse, close relatives, friends and society. Upon purchasing a sexbot, it seems quite easy to get one’s fill and neglecting every part of his life. In a study done by Carr et al., a male rat was subjected to novel females in a one-on-one setting, prime for reproductive purposes [19]. Upon placing a new female into the male’s cage, the male proceeds to copulate with the female until it is tired. If a new female is replaced into the cage a few hours later, the male will react very positively and copulate with the new female. This phenomenon, known colloquially as the Coolidge Effect, repeats itself until the rat is so worn out it is on the brink of death. Replace all of the novel females, and its interest wanes sharply after the second time. The constant novelty of sexbots would likely force a human into the same cycle. This is especially true if the person is unaware of this pitfall in their psychology.
CURRENT ATTITUDES TOWARDS SEX ROBOTS
Much of what has been covered in this post has been very speculative. No fully-funcitonal sexbots exist yet, and both logical and emotional AI will need vast improvements in order to be considered convincing by any measure. As we currently have no way to validate many of these claims in the field, researchers have turned to looking towards the public’s attitude towards sex robots [12], [20], [21]. The public’s attitude has a large role in what is considered an ethical response, and the changing of this metric over time might shift the thought of sexbots as a social good in one way or the other.
Scheutz and Arnold have pioneered various studies on qualitatively measuring current attitudes toward sexbots. They also aim to track the public’s responses to various questions in this area. When asked what possible advantages sexbots may have, the top responses were: no disease transmission (92%), sex available anytime (80%), no psychological or physical pain suffered (67%), and they allow people to expand their sexual horizon and provide people with companionship (59%) [12]. These statements echo the advantages posed in Section II. When asked what possible disadvantages sexbots may have, the top responses were: might harm relationships with other humans (in abusvie/hatred-filled ways) (70%), sex with the robot will become addictive (68%), and sexbots might transfer unrealistic expectations on humans, furthering abuse (66%) [12]. Curiously low on the list of disadvantages is that the robots might be too good, and people will not go back to humans (32%) [12]. As sex robots begin to attain media exposure and are talked about more, I envision the number of people that think this is a threat to rise.
FUTURE WORK
There has been a small amount of academic work on sex robots in the last few decades, and much of that canon has focused on the socioethical implications of the robots. This is mostly due to the fact that a true sex robot has never been built. We have begun seeing qualitative data on public opinion, which is a good start in the right direction. The next steps are to have live simulations of human-robot interactions. As this is difficult to simulate, it might be interesting to borrow the expertise of filmmakers. Movies such as Blade Runner, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, and Her all have themes focused on the efficacy of affective social robots in society. The movies are usually followed by a public discussion on the inevitable nature of having to integrate with such robots. It may be useful recourse for researchers to do a human study that subjects the participants to the themes of the movie, then asking them questions afterwards. There may be hidden bias in a study such as this, as movies exist mainly to evoke emotional response. Thus, watching the movie may prime the participant to think emotionally on the topic when answering questions. As well, most movies on the subject tend to portray sexbots as a bad concept, as the impending robot hellscape sells more tickets.
Another interesting avenue for future work lies in comparing the lifestyles of those who are in a sexual relationship with a human, those who who visit prostitutes, and those who employ the use of a sex robot. With enough participants, it may be possible to understand personality traits that lend members of each group to leading such a lifestyle. Tracking each individuals mental health and attitudes over time will surely procure interesting results. Having such a study yield conclusive evidence may be quite difficult, as it is hard to ascertain control variables, nonetheless account for them in participant selection. However, a coarse review still may provide key insights into the behaviors of sexual interest.
CONCLUSION
It is clear to see that Sex Robots will have a profound impact on human interactions when they are inevitably introduced to the public. Already, there are case studies in Japan and Korea of people preferring the love of a sexbot to a human being, and those in this camp will continue to grow. Add into the mix the current fragile nature of gender relations — sexbots will undoubtedly further this divide. The major arguments in favor of sexbots are (1) they are a good alternative for those that can not have sex with other humans, for whatever reason, (2) they offer an unending variety with a lack of complications, and (3) they are easier to relate to and can learn to be the perfect lover for their owner. The major arguments against sexbots are that (1) they promote the view of bodies as commodities, further lowering the value of human-human relationships, (2) they should be given the same legal rights as humans and thus they would be illegal prostitutes, and (3) they do not allow humans to grow morally.
Also, while not discussed in this post, the logical end to the sexbot argument is that they will make their owner so addicted to them that the owner will never want to associate with another human again. Furthering this, no children will be made naturally as the thought of copulation with another human will be revolting.
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