The blurred line between sex object and objectification…
Though we have not yet created convincingly humanoid, autonomous robots, there are already questions being asked about how far we should go. If we create robots with sentient capacity–if we give them thoughts, feelings or functions that resemble either–what does that mean for their citizen status, their legal status and their ‘ownership’ status? Can we create an entity smart enough to service our needs without creating a being that will suffer in service of those needs? Are we creating slaves? When does it stop being ethical?
What about relationships: When does a robot stop being a sex toy and become something more? Is it when the human has feelings for the robot, or when the robot can express feelings in return? When does using a robot impinge on the concept of monogamy?
There are no hard and fast answers to these sorts of questions, but with people like Heather Knight and Martin Saerbeck working to imbue robots with emulations of humanity, they’re questions that need to be explored.
When would you consider robot sex to cross the line?