Robotics Reference
In-Depth Information
to create than sexual robots, there seems to be no reason why an erotic
computation group should not spring up at the Media Lab in the not
too distant future. After all, as the Media Lab's genuine website pro-
claims, the lab “continues to focus on the study, invention and creative
use of digital technologies, and is now exploring new frontiers,...”. [4]
Is erotic computing not a creative use of digital technologies and a new
frontier?
It is not only in the western world that sex machines have been getting
into the news in recent years. In September 2003 the Hindustan Times
of India reported on efforts by Indian scientists to use robots to improve
couples' sex lives. Dr. Prasada Raju of the Indian Government's De-
partment of Science and Technology, says that Honda's humanoid robot
ASIMO was initially designed “to perform unusual tasks beyond normal
human capability.” But he added: “What we have actually achieved goes
far beyond that. Saving young couples from breaking apart could be
another un-looked for bonus.”
There is an argument that involving robots in the most intimate as-
pects of our lives is unhealthy, that having our robots do and teach us
absolutely anything we wish will leave us with less incentive to improve
ourselves. While there is some measure of justification in this argument,
it is also undeniably true that many people are simply unable, for what-
ever reason, to benefit from human help in their quest to improve a par-
ticular skill or some other aspect of their lives. Sexual technique is one
such area—there will be less embarrassment in receiving help and advice
from a robot sex therapist than from a human sex counsellor, just as there
is less embarrassment for many patients in confessing their true alcohol
consumption to a computer program rather than to a human doctor.
Experiments with Sexbots
Although there are some lucid arguments against the idea of sex with ro-
bots or even robot-aided sex, there are far more arguments demonstrating
why it is a good idea, some of which have been discussed by journalist Jon
Katz. At their simplest level robots could provide love talk and, through
the use of vibrators, they could offer tactile stimulation. And whatever
the level of sophistication of these “sexbots”, people investigating their
own sexuality and preferences could experiment with them safely. Katz
quotes the writer Joe Snell who suggests that
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