Ban Sex Robots Before They Get Going, Says Robot Expert
Sex robots may not be a thing yet, but many companies who make sex dolls are already at work on adding electronics and artificial intelligence to their products.
But a leading robot ethicist has launched a campaign to try to nip this movement in the bud.
Dr Kathleen Richardson, a robot ethicist at De Montfort University, Leicester, says that the development of sex robots should be banned.
“Sex robots seem to be a growing focus in the robotics industry,” she told the BBC. “And the models that they draw on - how they will look, what roles they would play - are very disturbing indeed.”
The models are, generally, female and Dr Richardson thinks they will dehumanise women to some men - and then some.
"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.
The sex industry has always ben an early adopter of new technologies and experts think demand for “intimate robots” will be high. But, these campaigners are asking, at what cost?
Image: Aflo/REX
