My friend (also uncle) Jim Schultz recently posted an article about robotic sex, and now the New York Times has another story on this. It’s horrifying—but if you missed it, a robotic woman will soon be on the market to indulge men.
The creepy part is that the dolls are engineered with artificial intelligence to simulate love and eroticism. In other words, this is not an improved blow-up doll. It is a substitute for wives.
I pass along some questions and welcome yours, please.
1. Will this intensify religious fundamentalism? Bin Laden’s Wahhabi critique of the West emphasized our licentious sexuality. Christian fundamentalists cannot accept anything that differs from husband-wife procreative sex. Will men hooked on female robots deepen fundamentalist reactions?
2. Will robotic sex increase global conflict? Many conflicts are set up by stark inequalities in birth rates and wealth. ISIS, for one, preys on these inequalities as justification for striking Paris and London—targets as notable for their wealth as for political capitals. These robots are going to cost about the price of a used car—a lot to pay for sex, but a bargain compared to a wife and kids. Robotically-sexed men will have much more discretionary wealth if freed from the social requirements of marriage and raising a family. Inequality will widen-- a frightening leading indicator of social conflicts.
3. How will men with robotic partners age? The premise of a robotic sex doll is perfection. People in long-term relationships routinely confront the realities of aging. Donald Trump is a good example of a man who idealizes sex as something that is superficially perfect and suspended in time—and his emotional development is arrested, as a direct result. Is this the future for our grandsons?
4. What’s in this for women? Fewer mates, and no alternative robot, yet. Comments on the NYT article snicker that women already have a battery-powered substitute. But this misses the danger in these robots—the allure of mechanized attachment, driven by an engineer's algorithms.
5. A lot of procreation occurs in a laboratory. If sex robots catch fire like cell phones, will society arrange for a robotic womb? What does that mean for humanity?
We probably underestimate the magnitude and importance of human sexuality, even if we talk about it constantly. It's nothing to mimic with our advanced technology. We may soon find out what we are taking for granted.
Photo Credit: New York Times
No comments:
Post a Comment