alex_greene
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Not British robots.Condottiere said:
The Perennial Robot Question
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Condottiere
Emperor Mongoose
Sex robots to storm into the British bedroom within ten years
The Roxxxy TrueCompanion
The Roxxxy TrueCompanion CREDIT: TELEGRAPH
Henry Bodkin
9 JUNE 2016 • 7:13PM
Sex robots could become a staple of the bedroom within ten years as the devices become more lifelike and affordable, a leading computer scientist has warned.
Artificial Intelligence expert Noel Sharkey said teenagers risk losing their virginity to sophisticated humanoid robots unless the sector is properly regulated.
He told the Cheltenham Science Festival that robot technology risked being hijacked for malign purposes in the way the internet has been for pornography unless governments take action.
The former advisor to the United Nations on robotics said he knew of at least 14 companies in South Korea and Japan that were manufacturing and marketing “childcare” robots, and he warned that the growing capability of so-called sex robots means they are likely to enter mainstream use within years.
Devices such as the Roxxxy or Rocky True Companion, which come with an optional “talking” feature, can currently be bought online for around £7,000.
The cost of sex robots is expected to come down, however, as more manufacturers enter the market.
“I do worry about people bonding and possibly having a relationship what is essentially a box full of computers,” said Professor Sharkey.
“What if it’s your first time – your first sexual experience?
“What are you going to think of the opposite sex then?”
“What would they think a woman or a man actually is?”
“Companion” devices such as the Pepper robot are being increasingly used to provide stimulation to elderly people, particularly in Asian countries such as Japan.
Created two years ago, the humanoid robot is designed with the ability to read certain emotions from analysing expressions and voice tones.
Professor Sharkey said there was evidence that companion devices were also being use by parents to keep their children company.
Research from California indicated young children had emotionally bonded with the humanoids, and that in some cases this had resulted in “serious attachment disorders”.
He read out posts from online forums by parents who had bought robots to keep their children occupied.
One said: “He [the child] has even started speaking in the robot’s fancy little voice and doesn’t ask to go out and play anymore or ask awkward questions.”
Professor Sharkey challenged the notion that machines could ever replace human contact and said the phenomenon of companion robots, including sex robots, raised issues of deceit.
“This isn’t emotion; it’s deception,” he said.
“You have to worry about people’s dignity.
“These robots are deceiving them and fooling them into thinking they love something that can’t love them back.”
The computer scientist also warned that the mechanisation of traditional toys could create spies inside family homes.
“There are privacy issues because if you believe the thing understands you, you might be confiding in it and it might be recording you.
“The new Barbie is connected to the internet.
“Parents just tick the box an sign the privacy agreement when they buy it without even looking at it.
“It says the Barbie is collect speech and uploading it onto the internet.
“What I want to see is some more international joined-up thinking about what we actually want from robotics, rather than letting it take over like the internet took over.”
Professor Sharkey is a founder member of an organisation called Responsible Robotics.
“I love robots and I want to see them doing well,” he said.
“But we’ve got to think about what we actually want from them.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/06/09/sex-robots-to-storm-into-the-british-bedroom-within-ten-years/
The Roxxxy TrueCompanion
The Roxxxy TrueCompanion CREDIT: TELEGRAPH
Henry Bodkin
9 JUNE 2016 • 7:13PM
Sex robots could become a staple of the bedroom within ten years as the devices become more lifelike and affordable, a leading computer scientist has warned.
Artificial Intelligence expert Noel Sharkey said teenagers risk losing their virginity to sophisticated humanoid robots unless the sector is properly regulated.
He told the Cheltenham Science Festival that robot technology risked being hijacked for malign purposes in the way the internet has been for pornography unless governments take action.
The former advisor to the United Nations on robotics said he knew of at least 14 companies in South Korea and Japan that were manufacturing and marketing “childcare” robots, and he warned that the growing capability of so-called sex robots means they are likely to enter mainstream use within years.
Devices such as the Roxxxy or Rocky True Companion, which come with an optional “talking” feature, can currently be bought online for around £7,000.
The cost of sex robots is expected to come down, however, as more manufacturers enter the market.
“I do worry about people bonding and possibly having a relationship what is essentially a box full of computers,” said Professor Sharkey.
“What if it’s your first time – your first sexual experience?
“What are you going to think of the opposite sex then?”
“What would they think a woman or a man actually is?”
“Companion” devices such as the Pepper robot are being increasingly used to provide stimulation to elderly people, particularly in Asian countries such as Japan.
Created two years ago, the humanoid robot is designed with the ability to read certain emotions from analysing expressions and voice tones.
Professor Sharkey said there was evidence that companion devices were also being use by parents to keep their children company.
Research from California indicated young children had emotionally bonded with the humanoids, and that in some cases this had resulted in “serious attachment disorders”.
He read out posts from online forums by parents who had bought robots to keep their children occupied.
One said: “He [the child] has even started speaking in the robot’s fancy little voice and doesn’t ask to go out and play anymore or ask awkward questions.”
Professor Sharkey challenged the notion that machines could ever replace human contact and said the phenomenon of companion robots, including sex robots, raised issues of deceit.
“This isn’t emotion; it’s deception,” he said.
“You have to worry about people’s dignity.
“These robots are deceiving them and fooling them into thinking they love something that can’t love them back.”
The computer scientist also warned that the mechanisation of traditional toys could create spies inside family homes.
“There are privacy issues because if you believe the thing understands you, you might be confiding in it and it might be recording you.
“The new Barbie is connected to the internet.
“Parents just tick the box an sign the privacy agreement when they buy it without even looking at it.
“It says the Barbie is collect speech and uploading it onto the internet.
“What I want to see is some more international joined-up thinking about what we actually want from robotics, rather than letting it take over like the internet took over.”
Professor Sharkey is a founder member of an organisation called Responsible Robotics.
“I love robots and I want to see them doing well,” he said.
“But we’ve got to think about what we actually want from them.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/06/09/sex-robots-to-storm-into-the-british-bedroom-within-ten-years/
Tom Kalbfus
Mongoose
Its a mechanical sex toy, that is all it is. I had fun with smuggling sex robots in one of my Traveller campaign some time ago. One of the players was looking for something to smuggle, and so sex robots or "sexbots" was one of the things he smuggled. The thing was, they had faulty on/off switches, and they kept on getting turned on whenever the ship received a hit in combat!
Reynard
Emperor Mongoose
See there's where the term 'robot' is doubtful. The doctor used a machine with visual enhancement and a manual method for the doctor's hands to access the very small work area. That's a tool, not a robot anymore than a car, a crane, submarine or plane is a robot. Needle nosed pliers let me have a very strong grip on small work area but doesn't make it a robot. That's a problem when we attribute things to the robotic entities when it is not a true robot. This is what I've been saying, we create more sophisticated tools to enhance the human rather than autonomous operating systems to replace humans for no reason other than profit.
