How sex robots could 'change humanity completely'

Sex robots are on the rise, whether we agree with the premise or not.

These blank-faced but eerily lifelike humanoids already exist solely for human gratification, and they're only getting more sophisticated.

The robots can engage in dirty talk, respond to human touch, and simulate sexual acts.

But what are the sexual ethics involved? Is having sex with an artificial intelligence doll a form of rape? If not, can living out the fantasy encourage rape in real life? And what about robots made to look like children?

These are some of the issues explored in a new BBC3 documentary, Sex Robots and Us, in which James Young — a 28-year-old amputee with an artificial limb — investigates an industry that's already booming in some parts of the world.

But these robots have a dark side — and some experts warn they could change humanity forever.

HOW DO THE ROBOTS WORK?

Sergei Santos, a sex robot designer from Barcelona, is trying to bring affordable AI sex dolls to the mainstream.

Together with his wife, Maritza, he creates lifelike sex robots in his home. Sergei focuses on coding the bot's mind, while Maritza takes care of the sensors that bring it to life.

The couple's most famous creation is "Samantha" — one of the world's most advanced sex robots — which retails at £2500 ($NZ4837).

By putting pressure on one of its erogenous zones — hips, breasts, mouth, crotch or hands — the user can arouse the robot, which will then moan and begin to engage in dirty talk, using software similar to the voice-activated systems in your smartphone, like Siri.

Samantha also responds positively to human touch, with the ability to reach a simulated orgasm and detect when a male user is about to ejaculate.

"I'm outsourcing the manufacturing and the selling," he tells Young. "In a factory I could easily do 200 a month."

Neither his wife nor his mother are fazed by the dolls.

"It's just part of my job now — it doesn't impress me," says Maritza. "I just hope the sensors work."

As sex bots become more accessible and sophisticated, sellers are looking for new ways to make money off them.

Arran Squire, Sergei's Liverpool-based business partner, even suggested stocking them in elderly people's homes.

"Residents could have one in their room," he suggests in an interview from his sex shop, where a doll is also stocked.

"It's a possibility that they could share the dolls. They're completely hygienic — everything is removable so it can all be cleaned.

"But I'm hoping that they could have their own Samantha. If people had a companion and a sex aid in a Samantha, that would take massive pressure off carers and nurses.

"I think people's attitudes will improve towards it. I'm hoping so anyway."

THE DARK SIDE OF SEX ROBOTS

For the most part, the robots may sound like a convenient — albeit costly — way for people to have sex. But experts warn they could "completely change humanity".

Noel Sharkey, from the Foundation for Responsible Robotics, said: "We're just doing all this stuff with machines because we can, and not really thinking how this could change humanity completely.

James, 58, from Atlanta, Georgia enjoying a date with his sex doll Harmony. Photo / Channel 4

"Some people have suggested that sex robots create an attitude of 'too-easy' sex which is always available."

He warned this could "take the meaning out of users' lives" and "turn them into zombies".

Sergei himself said he could envision men marrying sex robots over the next few decades.

"People might look at Samantha as a weird thing you read about. But before they know it, these robots will be doing their jobs, and marrying their children, their grandchildren, and their friends," he told The Sun last year.

"They need to remember that just a few years ago mobile phones were seen as a non-essential item in society but now we can't function without them."

In recent years, commentators have also campaigned against sex robots by arguing it encourages people to consider women as property, due to the submissive nature of the humanoids.

Creators Sergei and Maritza dismissed these concerns.

"We've had a lot of feminists get in contact," Maritza said. "Most of them avoid talking to me though. They don't want to talk to me because I'm a woman and that goes against their argument — the idea that this is 'by men, for men'."

But arguably the most controversial aspect in all this is child robots, which Mr Sharkey has previously called to be outlawed.

In one scene of the documentary, Young breaks down in tears upon seeing one of his interview subjects' latest inventions — a small-framed torso.

"What is this doll?" he asked the creator, Tokyo-based innovator Hiroshi Ishiguro.

"We have to leave it to the customer's imagination for the actual age setting," Ishiguro said, looking uncomfortable. "Of course, I understand what you are trying to say.

"But there might be some kind of sentiment to petite, kid-like size."

Ishiguro says there's no legal issues with these dolls, at least in Japan, but added: "I presume there are many ways of perceiving the issue so we only sell this model within Japan."

In other countries — like Australia — the possession of dolls resembling children is illegal.

Last year, a father from Perth was accused of using the internet to import prohibited child sex dolls which authorities claimed resembled girls as young as six.

The charges against him carried a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $450,000.

Male sex robots with bionic penises will be rolled out this year according to reports. Photo / RealDoll

But the creators argue that they are performing a public service by providing customers an outlet for their desires.

Speaking in London at the International Congress on Love and Sex with Robots in December, robotics philosopher Marc Behrendt of ULB University in Belgium made the highly controversial claim that child sex dolls could help protect children from sex predators.

"We can either see them as crafty pieces of engineering made up of wires, sensors, motors and equipped with a rudimentary AI brain, or on the contrary we can choose to consider them as a symbolic presentation of a human being," he said.

"In practical terms, CSBs could be part of the solution in helping some very specific categories of paedophiles overcome or manage their morally reprehensible and illegal sexual offences."

'IT'S MEN WHO SHOULD BE WORRIED'

Earlier this year a US mathematician argued that it's men who should be most worried about the rise of sex robots.

Dr Cathy O'Neil argued that it's "entirely possible" that robots could be favoured by future women over real men.

"Perhaps it's time for a Big Think. Are women not as capable as men of crude objectification? There's room here for everyone's impure thoughts and desires. Robots don't discriminate, and they can probably give good massages," she wrote in Bloomberg.

"I do think women could get spoiled by dashing menbots. Their standards might go up.

"They might even be lost to the dating pool altogether."