Sex Robots, Solution for Fight Against Sex Trafficking?
Sex Robots, Solution for Fight Against Sex Trafficking?
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BARCELONA - Spanish scientist, Sergi Santos looks proudly over what appears to be five busty women in tiny shorts and tank tops perched around his living room.
But look a little closer and it is clear they are not women but silicone sex dolls with wigs and artificial brains that Santos believes will not only earn him money but may also be used to staff brothels and help combat sex trafficking.
"Hi Samantha," Santos said, switching on one of his dolls.
"I'm here, what's up?" the robot replied, its bright blue eyes staring into nothing as a cable plugged into its neck charges the computer processor in its "brain".
Artificial intelligence (AI) is making its way into the global sex market, bringing with it a revolution in robotic "sextech" designed to offer sexual gratification with a near-human touch.
But the arrival of sex robots has divided opinion. Inventors like Santos argue they can potentially replace prostitutes, reduce sex trafficking and help lonely people, while critics say they objectify women and normalize sexism and rape culture.
"Get sexy," instructed Santos (39), who founded Synthea Amatus in 2015 and aims to start selling his sex robots in coming weeks, starting from about $2,000 each.
"I'm ready, what about you? I hope you are. I enjoy being with you, always," the big-breasted robot replied, while Santos' wife Maritsa Kissamitaki works at a desk in their home office.
Roboticists like Santos and those from US based Abyss Creations are racing to become the first in the world to bring sex robots - which talk and respond to touch through AI technology - to the consumer market.
Sex robots at bigger companies like Abyss Creations will start from about $10,000 depending on added extras.
Experts say the increasingly life-like robots raise complex issues that should be considered by policymakers and the public - including whether use of such devices should be encouraged to curb prostitution and sex trafficking, for sex offenders, or for people with disabilities.
![Sex Robots, Solution for Fight Against Sex Trafficking?]()
However, ethicist and founder of the Campaign Against Sex Robots Kathleen Richardson disagrees that sex robots will curb sex trafficking but says they will be another "option on the menu" alongside human prostitutes.
She said comparing prostitutes to robots was dehumanizing and the sexual objectification of women through sex dolls was also problematic.
"I don't think sex robots will reduce sex trafficking. It will just become another option on the menu for an already distorted and dehumanized commercial market," said Richardson, an academic at De Montfort University who has been studying robotics for more than a decade.
"There's something more insidious going on in sex trafficking about how you control and dominate another human being - and the pleasure you derive from rape."
Richardson said sex dolls and robots could even be dangerous, used as proxies to act out fantasies like rape or paedophilia.
"Giving someone who wants to rape children and fantasizes about that a doll with orifices that he can penetrate is ... dangerous. It's absolutely, extraordinarily irresponsible to promote that idea in wider society," she said.
But look a little closer and it is clear they are not women but silicone sex dolls with wigs and artificial brains that Santos believes will not only earn him money but may also be used to staff brothels and help combat sex trafficking.
"Hi Samantha," Santos said, switching on one of his dolls.
"I'm here, what's up?" the robot replied, its bright blue eyes staring into nothing as a cable plugged into its neck charges the computer processor in its "brain".
Artificial intelligence (AI) is making its way into the global sex market, bringing with it a revolution in robotic "sextech" designed to offer sexual gratification with a near-human touch.
But the arrival of sex robots has divided opinion. Inventors like Santos argue they can potentially replace prostitutes, reduce sex trafficking and help lonely people, while critics say they objectify women and normalize sexism and rape culture.
"Get sexy," instructed Santos (39), who founded Synthea Amatus in 2015 and aims to start selling his sex robots in coming weeks, starting from about $2,000 each.
"I'm ready, what about you? I hope you are. I enjoy being with you, always," the big-breasted robot replied, while Santos' wife Maritsa Kissamitaki works at a desk in their home office.
Roboticists like Santos and those from US based Abyss Creations are racing to become the first in the world to bring sex robots - which talk and respond to touch through AI technology - to the consumer market.
Sex robots at bigger companies like Abyss Creations will start from about $10,000 depending on added extras.
Experts say the increasingly life-like robots raise complex issues that should be considered by policymakers and the public - including whether use of such devices should be encouraged to curb prostitution and sex trafficking, for sex offenders, or for people with disabilities.
However, ethicist and founder of the Campaign Against Sex Robots Kathleen Richardson disagrees that sex robots will curb sex trafficking but says they will be another "option on the menu" alongside human prostitutes.
She said comparing prostitutes to robots was dehumanizing and the sexual objectification of women through sex dolls was also problematic.
"I don't think sex robots will reduce sex trafficking. It will just become another option on the menu for an already distorted and dehumanized commercial market," said Richardson, an academic at De Montfort University who has been studying robotics for more than a decade.
"There's something more insidious going on in sex trafficking about how you control and dominate another human being - and the pleasure you derive from rape."
Richardson said sex dolls and robots could even be dangerous, used as proxies to act out fantasies like rape or paedophilia.
"Giving someone who wants to rape children and fantasizes about that a doll with orifices that he can penetrate is ... dangerous. It's absolutely, extraordinarily irresponsible to promote that idea in wider society," she said.
(rnz)
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