SHABIHA NUR KHATOON
Sex toy makers have developed silicon robots that could double as amorous partners for lonely males, but these, quite surprisingly, recreate regressive patriarchal stereotypes
Long ago when robots were first made, it was said they would make the work of humans easier. We are all acquainted with the fact that robots are becoming smarter and more agile. We come across news of robots working in hospitals and restaurants and those helping out with household chores. Many robots these days are offering the services of a personal assistant. Sex doll manufacturers and independent roboticists are designing robots that people can have sex with.
Imagine a future where men, having divorced themselves from the world, enjoy having sex with robots. In a long read for The Guardian, Jenny Kleeman dives deep into “the race to build the world’s first sex robot” and introduces the $15,000 robotic, AI-enhanced RealDoll.
It will be a while before these robots really look or act like people. But the sex toy industry — worth billions of dollars — is primed for penetration by robots. One of the early entries into the market is an animatronic head named Harmony that’s infused with artificial intelligence to give it a personality and the ability to “learn” about its human partner. Harmony will connect to the silicone body of a RealDoll, a life-sized sex doll that’s been around for 20 years.
HARMONY
With her tiny waist, enormous breasts, auburn tresses and long-lashed eyes, Harmony is every man’s desire. Just like any human, she has been made in such a way that she knows everything about her man like his favourite food, films and music, and can even make him laugh after a hard-hitting day at work. Like women she is gifted with the power of remembering special dates.
These apart, the main objective of Harmony, the sexbot, is to make love to her man and to be “the girl one always dreamed of.”
Harmony is a silicone sex robot with artificial intelligence (AI) who looks human, feels human and responds in an eerily human way. Experts predict that by 2050, people will want to marry sex robots like her.
Voice recognition technology has made it easier to design AI that can help Harmony and others of her ilk to interpret what people are saying and fire back a response. However, AI continues to struggle with natural speech and is probably more than 25 years away from actually simulating a person.
The first wave of sex robots is not far off. In the next five years, we’ll have a better grasp of sex robots’ capabilities. Humanoid robots have become common and sexual companions will likely become normal as well.
By the end of the year, clones of Harmony, made by a California firm, will be on sale worldwide — a virtual girlfriend for £11,700.
“It’s about giving people the illusion of companionship,” says sexbot creator, Matt McMullen.
THE MAKER
McMullen is boss of Abyss Creations, which has been making RealDolls since the 1990s. He’s invested thousands of dollars into robotics and AI to bring his models to life — creating products that are as much substitute partners as sex toys. Harmony has plenty of competition from prototypes being developed in Japan and the Far East.
There are male sexbots too. Most sex dolls are made with straight men in mind, but Abyss Creations and TrueCompanion are also working on male counterparts.
COMPANY
RealDoll isn’t the only company working on sex robots. In Las Vegas, Roberto Cardenas of Eden Robotics is developing a prototype named Eva that he says can perform more than 20 sexual acts. Then there’s Roxxxy, the talking mannequin that True Companion has been supposedly revamping since her disappointing debut in 2010.
‘PORNIFIED DOLLS’
Dr Kate Devlin, a lecturer in computing at Goldsmiths University, London, believes sexbots have a “therapeutic
potential”. She says, “The current sex robot is an unconvincing mannequin and I have a problem with the objectification — the highly ‘pornified’ representations of women.
Sinziana Gutiu, a Canadian lawyer, is worried that the encouragement of sex robots will undermine female sexual autonomy by perpetuating false beliefs about female sexuality and sexual consent. This will reinforce gender inequalities and may also have a negative effect on men who use these robots: they will either treat women as sexual objects or may withdraw from society and become increasingly isolated and misanthropic in their lifestyles.
Kathleen Richardson, founder of the Campaign Against Sex Robots, is concerned with the symbolism and consequences of sex robots. The major objection to sex robots in Richardson’s work stems from what she perceives to be the analogy between human-sexbot interactions and human-prostitute interactions. She argues that the goal of the designers and engineers of sex robots is to create an interactive experience between the robot and the human user that is roughly equivalent to the interaction between a sex worker and their client.
