The Rise of Sex Robots and Pleasure Machines

Originally posted by SpartanKingLeonidas

Appreciate your attempt to take this thread discussion to the "next level" but it is really too late in the evening for me to do that adequately... so in the meantime, I have to ask why men are being offered quite nice options while we women are getting shafted... this just isn't acceptable!

www.first-androids.de...

While I can't say I share the apparently widespread fascination with artists conceptions or even the present state of the technology, I do think the topic opens up some interesting questions about the nature of people.

Personally, I believe that while there will probably be enough of a market to sustain this technology as it develops, it will never pose a significant competitive threat to human relationships.

In my experience, people generally hold some disdain those who are exceptionally willing to have sex with them. Some like the acceptance of an admirable person, some like a challenge, some just like an impressive black book, some are looking for a connection so unexpected and unique and positive that it can only appear to be divinely ordained, and some dysfunctional sorts are even seeking to undo rejection by sleeping with someone who has mistreated them or who they expect will or for some reason should mistreat them. But no small number of the reasons people have sex (which I treat as distinct from the things that make people fall in love, perhaps owing to my stunning collection of "just friends") are simply incompatible with purchasing a sure thing.

The clingy worshipper who just oozes emotion everytime he or she sees you? You don't stay with them. You might call them up when you're feeling extremely alone and unworthy, but after you've had a free meal and vented all of the emotions that you'd normally be afraid to tell others, 9 times out of 10 it's a hug and a promise to call them that you have no intention of keeping. Unless you're so depressed that you've gotten totally hammered- in which case you have one mutually disappointing experience and probably neither one of you can ever really stand to be around the other again.

The one who half your friends and apparently all of the strangers have already been with before you, who everyone tells shocking stories about, often consisting of disgusting bloopers and social embarrassments? How often is alcohol not involved in that, and how often does it get past the third encounter (if that far)? Truth be told, haven't you thought about having that person murdered before anyone finds out you did it?

Speaking from the lessons of my own mistakes, I believe that sex is only as difficult to obtain as you cause it to be yourself. If you don't wear your issues on your sleeve, your partner won't notice them until long after they've undressed you.

So the people who are in most dire need of these robots are the people who couldn't bring themselves to walk into the store and choose one, and the same people who can't bring themselves to walk into one of the friday night meat markets to seal the deal the traditional way (with a big boquet of jello shooters).


AND I might add that if I'm right, that's probably a good thing. Overly willing sex robots would only deepen the social handicaps of the individuals who came to rely on them to an unhealthy extent.

The last thing we need is a group of people who've been rejected one time too many and already feel very insecure and perhaps a little angry towards the opposite sex having regular experiences where no laws protect their partner, and where they cannot and will not be told no, and even despite that compliance are free to further vent their insecurities and frustrations through violence or other poor treatment. In the admittedly unlikely event that such an individual eventually did have sex with another human being, somebody could get seriously hurt.


This of course raises the question of the "practice bot": A robot which actually has to be talked into the sack, and once there may provide on the job training and constructive criticism. Guys, I can sense your eyes glassing over already, but mark this: that machine is going to turn you into a machine- and not the good kind of machine with no off switch- the bad kind of machine with no on switch. A machine that trains you to say and do whatever it takes to get what you want out of other people would be no better than a machine that teaches you that you can do whatever you want to other people.

I think we really have to consider the possibility that clockwork humans will beget clockwork humans- that irresponsible use of robots could encourage sociopathic tendencies.

I'm anything but a moralist. I say if you're not hurting anybody, go for it. In fact in some limited areas of life, I'd say if you're not hurting anybody, you might not be trying hard enough.

But any idiot, however desperate or hormonally driven, ought to know that you look both ways for any sign of danger before you remove your underwear.

edit to add "competitive" to "never pose a threat".

[edit on Wed 30 Sep 2009 by The Vagabond]

reply to post by The Vagabond



Wow...what revelations...I loved your honesty.

Personally I really am tired of men and their insatiable need for toys,
the cost to the environment of supporting so much ugly and toxic junk. Guns robots gadgets rockets...really wasteful and unNatural...The way people are behaving right now is a total turn off from sex for me. Flagrant Dehumanization leaves me cold to this civilization

reply to post by LadySkadi


Yes, well, I retain the right to try to be serious nonetheless.

As far as men on this thread posting "fem-bots" all I can say is to me it equals the same as guys not saying another guy is cute or even handsome, men tend to step away from posting pictures of men, or even male robots, unless it is seen in the "cool" sense, war, violence, and tragedy.

No, I am not robohomophobic. I made up a new word. Yay me!

Not sure about your link since I am posting from the library, and it was blocked by the libraries computers, so I take it that it was semi-naughty, at least to their standard, which would be a grandmother showing a little ankle.

reply to post by The Vagabond


The Vagabond, you and I see eye to eye on much of what you said in your lengthy post, and some of it was where I was going with my serious post.

I have been called a robot before, quite a few times, in fact, because of lack of compassion, lack of emotion, and as well my ability to recall information easily, quickly, and meticulously, so I understand where your explanation was coming from, although it is not for the same reasoning, no robot-sex here.

I learned early on, at the age of six, to shut down my emotions completely, like shutting off a light switch, and while I will not go into specifics, I can say I understand completely about this particular topic, as well as being referenced a Walking Wikipedia by an ex-Law Enforcement Officer I know because of my extensive knowledge of military, Law Enforcement, Government, as well as everything else I speak of on ATS.

Automaton's should never have been considered for sexual pleasure, ever, my joking aside previously, I do see it as the movement towards societal collapse that people would seriously consider a robot for sex, coital or otherwise, because once you can associate metal and chrome to skin and warmth, you will lose your humanity completely, and you will in fact become a robot made of flesh and blood, actions will become autonomous and as well the thought process will speed up and ethics will no longer become a thought process because it will turn into routines and sub-routines.

Besides that there is of course the thought of skin to metal, temperature changes to consider, like sticking your tongue to a flagpole (no, SLAYER69, I have never done that), when it is cold, how exactly one would extract their penis from the metal vagina of a fem-bot if the lubrications were to suddenly run dry?

The same can be said in reverse for females with the male robot who has his shaft, pun intended, inserted into her orifice, depending on which is being enjoyed at the time, and suddenly lubrication becomes as issue, the medical community would be both in shock and awe of horror as well as I can see and hear the jokes coming already since I used to work as a Security Officer, and let me tell you, some of the people who came in with items, whether phallic in nature, or not, stuck in certain orifices, both male and female, would have the Emergency Room in fits of laughter after the patient was treated and released.

When circuitry and sheet metal become commonplace in the bedroom, our society will have slowly but surely secured its demise all but completely, because this is the same reason that homosexuality and lesbianism is forbidden in the Bible, not because it is what will get you sent to Hell, but because of the lack of new babies being born as well as incest leading towards a stagnation of society, which the true meaning behind the story of Sodom and Gomorrah.

[edit on 30-9-2009 by SpartanKingLeonidas]

Im surprised all these great minds considered only "hetero" issues - when the very idea of artificial sex partners opens up an infinite can of worms...besides going to your local AAA Rent-All for a Chain fall and/ or Jackhammer, "and uh, the blonde with the big boobs...second from the left...does she come with weekend rates?"

What are the implications for those of an alternative or even all out twisted nature...who is to regulate the design of these things? SHould regulation be considered at all? Before you answer, imagine the latest sex-bot model...a ten year old with Brownie uniform and Catholic School uniform included?

Originally posted by LadySkadi

Originally posted by SpartanKingLeonidas

Appreciate your attempt to take this thread discussion to the "next level" but it is really too late in the evening for me to do that adequately... so in the meantime, I have to ask why men are being offered quite nice options while we women are getting shafted... this just isn't acceptable!

www.first-androids.de...

Ho Hum,the way my lifes been going of late my luck would only see me get hit on & picked up at last drinks by an overweight pissed she-dalek & be condemned to a night smack bang covering the wet spot.*sigh*


P.s.~~ Tee Hee Hee "women are getting shafted"

reply to post by Cole DeSteele

a ten year old with Brownie uniform and Catholic School uniform included?

I imagine this would fit under already existing child pornography laws. You make a good point though. Personally I don't care, as long as it isn't a real 10 year old girl (or a sentient 10 year old robo-girl).

reply to post by silver tongue devil


Correct. Simulated child pornography is already illegal. And everyone who watched the Simpsons Movie uncut is a boy-buggering criminal (that little snafu aside though, it's probably a good law).

I'm not sure if we'd be looking at the complete end of civilization- as in Futurama's hillarious "no thanks, i'd rather make out with my monroe-bot," argument against "metal fever" but I think the potential consequences well outweigh the likely benefits.


Think about the things that robots can do for us. They reduce the amount of human labor required to support the human population, which while it has been a bit rough economically during the transition, could eventually give us a world where 10 hours of labor could support a first-world lifestyle, thus vastly increasing the amount of time humanity has to spend on developing our culture and our human relationships.

God to man: "Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life... In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground." (gen 3:17b, 3:19a)
Robot to man: "Why don't I do that for you?"
Man to Robot: "Shutup and bend over."

*Serious-Hat on*

Maslow's presentation of the basic NEEDS of humans (do not confuse with WANTS.) The most basic needs on the scale are the (1) physiologic or biologic needs, such as the need for air, food, or water. (2) safety needs, including protection and freedom from fear and anxiety. (3) the need to belong, to love, and to be loved; the need for self-esteem; and (4) ultimately the need for self-actualization. To progress from one need to another, the more basic need must first be satisfied.

Harlow's (infamous) experiment with monkeys, though intended to address infant development and attachment to its mother seemed to illustrate the importance (Need) for bodily contact and comfort and appeared to be a necessary requirement for emotional attachment. Of particular importance, note the differing reactions to the "wire" surrogate mother and the "terry cloth" surrogate mother by the infant monkey.

(1) If one believes that people are inherently, perhaps biologically drawn by NEED to another and to seek comfort from another and that this draw is a basic tenant of life, but are deprived of the opportunity (for any reason, psycho. social, what have you) than perhaps to substitute the "real" for that which is "present" is natural? If there is an instinctual NEED than can the body be "tricked" into fulfilling this need by way of the mind? Especially if the substitute is inherently "life-like"?

(2) Does this suggest that, those who are of the fringe (who would perhaps seek Robot substitute for Human contact because it is absent in real life) can in fact have real emotion and attachment to an inanimate object and if so, does that fulfill the hierarchy of needs? If Robots are "wired" and "programmed" to Human specifications than it would suggest that Robot "emotions" can in fact, be "real" ... Now, if that is the case, than Human emotions and attachment can be conditioned to accept this and Voila - you have a situation in which there is a Robot/Human relationship as perceived by the person.

Whether this is morally wrong and what this ultimately says about society and the future (I'm assuming the hypothetical reality of Robot-love) would be highly debatable ... Many of the same questions would need to be asked and answered that are now at the forefront of Gay/Lesbian relationships as well as questions that have yet to be thought of, given inanimate objects involved. A very difficult, culturally and socially problematic dilemma, to be sure.

*Serious-Hat off*

[edit on 30-9-2009 by LadySkadi]

I am more excited about the prospect of one that can clean the house and make me a cup of tea. Anything else is a bonus.

My immediate thought though is the scene from AI, where the robot is a gigilo or something?

reply to post by nixie_nox


Well I'd like my robot to simply respect me in the morning....

Then later do the house work and make me a cup of coffee or grab me a scotch depending on the time of day.

reply to post by LadySkadi


You make excellent points, and also make me glad that I qualified some earlier statements with the stipulation of unhealthy reliance.

We do have ample precedent for filling the void created by unfulfilled needs with artificial or unusual surrogates. Some people assume the role of pack leader for their pet dogs to satisfy their need for recognition and status, and this is not seen as perverse.

Continuing with the same example, people sometimes treat their dogs in ways that would not be acceptable to treat a human in the course of fulfilling their needs by those means, but that does not chase us away from the entire concept of domesticating dogs.

So there would seem to be some evidence that sex robots can fulfill a valid function with an acceptable ration of risk to reward.

The moral argument I am prepared to disregard. Sex that only involves one living being, even when supplemented with the imagination or simulation elements beyond physical gratification, while viewed as distasteful or even immoral by some, is not generally against the law, and does appear to take place not only among humans but among other creatures without having been completely selected against by nature.

So it would certainly seem that there is a place for robosexuals and their clockwork counterparts, although it would appear to be second place, well behind actual human contact.

Well this is better!

Real Me

Now if that's something to look forward to... I'm in.

I'm married, so no need for a sex bot... but a hard-out pop dancing deva-droid!

Well, let's just day that would go nicely in the living room.

Originally posted by SpartanKingLeonidas
reply to post by LadySkadi

 

Yes, well, I retain the right to try to be serious nonetheless.

As far as men on this thread posting "fem-bots" all I can say is to me it equals the same as guys not saying another guy is cute or even handsome, men tend to step away from posting pictures of men, or even male robots, unless it is seen in the "cool" sense, war, violence, and tragedy.

I wasn't clear, my mistake. Those comments about women getting the "raw deal" when it came to Robot manufacturing (now I'm embarrassed to say "shafted"!) were meant in the general, industry sense - not related to any pictures or comments on this thread - which I have personally found pretty humorous, by the way.

The few sites that I stumbled on (when I took SLAYER69's advice to do some googling *grins*) seemed to be primarily to do with German and Japanese Robot manufacturing and though I would dearly love to post links to them, I'm really not sure if I'd end up censored and a better question is whether I care if I do? I suppose I do a bit, since I didn't link them.

Suffice it to say, the link of the male-bot was the least lewd on the German site and the videos on the Japanese site were not only extremely illuminating, (read: I think my eyes popped outta my head a little) but also intriguing in the sense that what technology is creating is meant to be "life-like" and will act/feel and perhaps talk as such. There isn't going to be a need to worry about "flesh on metal" (oh man, I'm having a serious case of dbl-dog-dare flashbacks from the flagpole...my favorite Holiday movie, by the way!)

OFF TOPIC ETA:

I might add, I admit to a teeny crush on a certain Autobot - but no matter how you slice it, I just can't see it working out ...

M. Fox was right, there is a lot of running in this movie. Removed the embedded vid. but the link is here

Transformers Vid

[edit on 1-10-2009 by LadySkadi]

reply to post by HulaAnglers


oh my , I am an old guy ... never been married , hardly been laid ... and frankly speaking...

I so totaly agree that I am stunn'd .

...to a point ....

I am the classic nice guy .
I write note books filled with letters I never send to pretty women , I oooze emotion when I am near a women I fancy .

and the more I want , the faster they run away...

I am a poor guy , but at one time made 6 figures , was polite , well dressed and in a hurry ...
not one women on the planet made it easy.

now that I am poor , nothing has changed .

frankly speaking , a robot is not only the only answer for nice , polite and kind men .
if a guy wants a family , test tube clones ! women are insain !
not one women on the earth has one reason to say a word , form follows function ...

I am single now , I have always been single , and will die alone ... and not for one moment beleive I ever wanted it that way...

I am the shy guy that gets knocked down by women who push me out of the way to get near a convicted rapist , who did time in jail for beating up a girl friend ( this actualy happen'd ) and was know to have done this regualy .

for the guy that is happily married you have no clue how lucky you are... ( and it is all luck ).

if at any time in the future I gain wealth , the very last thing on earth I will ever do , is make it known to women I like .

women get what they seek , and have no one to blaim for the current meat market world than themselves ...

as for a sex robot , it is as sure as the dawn on the horizon of a dark night . where nice , smart , capable guys who can do the engineering , will do it out of frustration .

when women have to compete with machines that are in every way better than what they are selling .. they will out law these machines ... and then it will become clear just what this game is .


don't ever think for one moment that this has anything to do withnice , shy , polite guys ... or anything to do with socail misfits .

its a money for sex thing ... and robot sex is the discount alley of the dollor store

For me this kind of subject it's not weird at all. IMO this robots will be just another type of futuristic sex toys, no big deal at all.
People this days make sex with Bottles, carrots, bananas, watermellons, animals, furniture..etc, why they can't make sex with a robot?
I think it's much more insane to make sex with animals or teddybears then Sex robots...really!

[edit on 1/10/09 by Umbra Sideralis]

reply to post by LadySkadi


Oh my God, LadySkadi, I think I'm in love, and it's not a robot either.

Will you marry me?

One of my favorite songs, and the movie kicked major hardcore metal butt!

I was more of less teasing you, somewhat, about the pictures, like the marriage proposal there.

I know what you mean, and SLAYER69 gave me the same link, but I saw it as what it was, a perversion of humanity, but then again, I am against cloning, and DNA splicing.

To each their own.

Yes, that movie was one of my favorites as well.

The male to female ratio on this particular topic has been a tad skewed though.

I see the rise of the robot sex-toy, or sex-o-buddy, as seriously detrimental towards society.

The next thing you know, they will want to vote, and equal rights.

Readerone, it really is a shame I can't give you more stars. Thats exactly how I feel. Nice guys finnishing last is a huge problem if there is such a demand for sexbots. As long as honesty is punishable by lonlyness good men will sit and do nothing for the rest of us/you.

The trend seems to be lie, cheat and steal to get a girl (for sex) from the age of 14-23, then calm down and look for love and yet still lie and cheat. Then let responsibility and or the woman mould you into a more honest person or a better lier. If your a woman, the world shapes you into what seems like the "normal" girl for that day/age where sex is a weapon and a tool and can never be openly used for pleasure and you can never be wrong.

Thats why alot of guys/girls would love a robot with life like everything, it offers a blank slate, no lies, no cheating (it would know why its wrong), no twisting of words in an arguement and no death (software backups). You also get add-ons and synthetic hair that doesn't take 2 hours to do and different voices/personallities! You would also not have to wonder what she means when she asks "do these breasts make my head look small?". It would take all the guess work out of a relationship.

I personally think we as a people are robots when talking to people we don't really know, including dates. We don't speak about our flaws up front and right away, we know the other person will run the other way, so we reel them in first with a huge smile on our faces like a used car dealer. We are all programed to be normal by our peers, we all want to belong even if it means watching the new and popular cartoons/shows just so that we can talk about it with the cool kids. Think about how much sports gets talked about Vs. how much is played! I think if kids had no one to relate/talk to, they would stay more or less the same and continue to watch thier fave shows. I wonder how many people over 30 only think of thier bike as transport if the gas runs out and not as a way to get down a hill very fast and with a very big grin. Driving is a chore.

Society as a whole programs us to lie by pushing ideals that punish the open honesty we had as kids. How many times have you been rewarded for telling the truth compared to when you lied? When people ask you how your doing, do you lie and say your great or do you say you have had the worst day ever, if you lied, why?

IMO we need to be programed to be honest and truthful again, but first, we need to program other robots to be honest first whether or not they are human.

What? No Futurama fans here?



I couldn't find the actual scene from Futurama. Someone created this anime version that isn't quite as funny, but if anyone has seen the Futurama episode I am thinking of, it is funny as hell. (this is the audio from the show, though. I love the 1950's propaganda. Reefer madness style.)

As far as the sex robots? I don't know about it. I mean, I have seen the arguments. Even the brilliant post by the mod above who detailed the sociological aspects of such a thing, and I think I understand it.

However, lets be frank. If I could purchase a hepatitis free version of Pamela Anderson with Jenna Jamison's sexual tendancies, I would do it in a heartbeat.
The only thing that would give me pause is the level of AI and sensory recognition on the part of the robot. More specifically, when I slap her behind does she react?



[edit on 1-10-2009 by JayinAR]

reply to post by The Vagabond

This of course raises the question of the "practice bot": A robot which actually has to be talked into the sack, and once there may provide on the job training and constructive criticism. Guys, I can sense your eyes glassing over already, but mark this: that machine is going to turn you into a machine- and not the good kind of machine with no off switch- the bad kind of machine with no on switch. A machine that trains you to say and do whatever it takes to get what you want out of other people would be no better than a machine that teaches you that you can do whatever you want to other people.

*I was originally going to post something entirely different regarding this point, but since this idea is incredibly disturbing... I ended up with this...*

There are groups making a ton of money teaching seminars on "how to seduce difficult women" and most have a similar underlying assumption/theme... that women are uptight b*tches that will not give the time of day and in order to play the game, the man must (assuming it doesn't come natural) learn to exhibit the traditionally recognized "alpha-male" personality traits and use them as a strategy...

Example: Confidence is always the first thing "they" say to portray (if you don't have it, fake it) because women are attracted to confident men (o.k) but some men skew the definition. It's not "not caring what anyone thinks of you" - that's egoism. Not the same thing.

The only difference with current "seduction seminars" pertinent to this thread is that the men who buy into this stuff are practicing and playing real women now -vs- using Robots for practice, in the future. Creepy and disgusting and fosters the "men are pigs" stereotype, while reinforcing the belief that women are b*tches if they aren't buying the game.

It doesn't move us forward, if anything, it moves us backward.
_____________________________________________________

Now, please excuse me while I take a moment "Whoosaa"

[edit on 3-10-2009 by LadySkadi]