back to article Sexbots could ‘over-exert’ their human lovers, academic warns

The possibility of sex robots over-exerting their human lovers to the point of collapse is just one of the ethical conundrums academics and society need to get their head round, a Swiss academic told a conference on sex robots today. Oliver Bendel, of the University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Northwestern Switzerland, told …

Page:

  1. Alan Bourke

    Yeah?

    We'll see about that ...

    1. Dan 55 Silver badge
    2. Version 1.0 Silver badge

      Re: Yeah?

      I'll volunteer to be a guinea pig and give it a shot - I'm up for it.

  2. tony72
    Paris Hilton

    Umm

    “If the machine over-exerts the human, it reduces the possibility of human sex,” Bendel warned.

    I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest that if you have a sexbot that you find so attractive and sexually fulfilling that you allow it to "over-exert" you, then you're probably not going to be that bothered about human sex.

    1. Jedit Silver badge
      Pirate

      "you're probably not going to be that bothered about human sex"

      And indeed, not at great risk of getting human sex. Which is the most likely reason for buying a sexbot in the first place.

      (I say "buying", because I don't want to countenance the idea of renting one.)

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: "you're probably not going to be that bothered about human sex"

        (I say "buying", because I don't want to countenance the idea of renting one.)

        "Renting" is already quite normal for human-human sex, especially amongst the younger crowd; and if you think humans would be more hygienic than purpose-built sexbots, you've probably not given much thought to the biology of human orifices.

        1. bombastic bob Silver badge
          Devil

          Re: "you're probably not going to be that bothered about human sex"

          the 'rental' problem is solved as long as the bot has detachable/replaceable "parts" that can be properly cleaned/sterilized, or simply "you have to buy your own". 99% of the bot could be 'rented' and 1% purchased.

          And of course, it wouldn't demand "palimony", expensive gifts. It wouldn't gripe at you for no reason, lie about you to your friends/enemies and/or take you to court, etc. etc. etc.

          And if people don't accept your "Robosexuality", you can call them "Robo-phobes".

          [there's a term for something a lot *like* this on certain image boards... yeah, 'moot' point]

          1. T-Bo

            Re: "you're probably not going to be that bothered about human sex"

            And of course, it wouldn't demand "palimony", expensive gifts. It wouldn't gripe at you for no reason, lie about you to your friends/enemies and/or take you to court, etc. etc. etc.

            That'll be version 2.0 then ... or optional Service Packs perhaps?

        2. zb

          Re: "you're probably not going to be that bothered about human sex"

          Reminds me of the old millionaire's adage:

          "If it flies, floats or F***s: rent don't buy

    2. dbayly

      Re: Umm

      Apropos

      http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/12/the-anime-girlfriend-experience-gateboxs-ai-powered-holographic-home-robot/

    3. Goldmember

      Re: Umm

      It doesn't matter what society-imposed "safeguards" or morals are included; the modding/cracking communities will be all over this from day one. Just look at how quickly games are cracked. I see no reason why the firmware of a sexbot could be not modified to get around this.

      And I should imagine the motivation to do so would be immense, to say the least...

    4. Matt Bryant Silver badge

      Re: tony72 Re: Umm

      "....a sexbot that you find so attractive and sexually fulfilling....." Even more to the point, is he suggesting we should somehow punish those women that are currently the "apex predators" in attractiveness as they reduce the chance men will want to have sex with "ordinary" women? Will a legally-enforced limit be set to how sexy Margot Robbie can look going to be set? Seeing as the whole fashion industry depends on people remaining insecure about their looks and constantly trying to attain an artificial and - frankly, for the majority of people - unobtainable level of attractive "perfectness", I don't see that being a problem for the sex robot manufacturers in court. And that's before we start looking at other hanger-ones to the fashion industry, such as womens' magazines, which seem to constantly pump out articles stating "buy this rag and we'll tell you how to have the best sex ever".

  3. frank ly

    I'm waiting for ....

    ... the whiskey bottle that refuses to open if it thinks you've had too much or if it suspects that you are likely to drive soon.

    1. Zog_but_not_the_first
      Facepalm

      Re: I'm waiting for ....

      Noooooo!

      Not the IoN (Internet of Nannies).

      1. Mark 85

        Re: I'm waiting for ....

        Not the IoN (Internet of Nannies).

        Too late, it's already here. We have governments trying to stop porn, wanting magical encryption, backdoors, and the usual "thinking of the children" and of course, terrorism.

        Here's the latest one: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/12/19/south_carolina_calls_for_smutfree_pcs/

    2. Dave 126

      Re: I'm waiting for ....

      Hopefully, by the time that whisky bottles become as intelligent as a barman, my car will be intelligent enough to drive me home without my input.

      1. Danny 14

        Re: I'm waiting for ....

        They have them already. We call them taxis round here.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: I'm waiting for ....

          I know you're being deliberately obtuse but taxis are not available everywhere. I live in the countryside a good distance from the nearest population centre in a country where taxis are expensive (and Uber banned). For a taxi to come out of the city to pick me up from my local and take me home (about a 10 minute drive) costs upwards of 65 euros. Makes a quick pint or two pretty expensive

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: I'm waiting for ....

            " I live in the countryside [...]"

            That used to be solved by riding a horse which could find its own way home from the pub..

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    At least it will allow you to fall asleep afterwards.

  5. chivo243 Silver badge
    Happy

    male and female

    As a male, when I'm done, well, I'm done. I don't think a robot is going to revitalize me any faster than a flesh and blood woman.

    As a woman, well, the robotic parter can keep going until the woman is done.

    Surely there would be a "safe" button like a safe word on such a mechanical device?

    Smiley Face as we all like Happy Endings ;-}

    1. art guerrilla

      Re: male and female

      okay, but what about that hot bot-on-bot action ? ? ?

      will bot-on-bots over-exert themselves to crashing and burning ? ? ?

      1. annodomini2

        Re: male and female

        May bring new meaning to:

        "My Sex is on Fire!"

  6. Graham 7

    I'll await someone attaching a V8 engine to a Sexbot...

    1. Danny 14

      left, down, rotate sixty-two degrees, engage rotor

  7. Michael Thibault

    Does a "kill button for arachnophobes" turn the machine on arachnophobes who press the button? Slightly disproportionate as features go, but I can see how it's not entirely a bad thing.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Kill arachnophobes

      "Slightly disproportionate as features go, but I can see how it's not entirely a bad thing."

      Given the way spiders control flies without the use of toxic chemicals, thus promoting human health, taking action against arachnophobes might not indeed be a bad thing. But killing is over-drastic. Instead the two ideas should be combined into a sex robot that is activated when arachnophobes encounter spiders, thus using operant conditioning to remove their phobia.

      It would be banned in Australia, obviously.

      1. MrDamage Silver badge

        Re: Kill arachnophobes

        It wouldn't be banned in Australia, just useless.

        Knowing our spiders, it'll dodge the attack from the arachnaphone, crawl into one of the sexbots orifices, and sit there rubbing it's legs together thinking "I'll get you my pretty. Mwahahahahahahahahahaha"

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Kill arachnophobes

        Given the way spiders control flies without the use of toxic chemicals

        So, injection of a potent neurotoxin to paralyse the fly, and then injection it with enzymes that melt it alive is not toxic? Are you a vegetarian or otherwise critically impaired?

        Note: Re-reading that, it sounds horribly aggressive and insulting, and it isn't meant that way. Imagine the sort of ribbing you'd get in the pub, if you would. Maybe one day we'll have an icon for that.

        1. This post has been deleted by its author

        2. GrapeBunch
          Pint

          Re: Kill arachnophobes

          "Note: Re-reading that, it sounds horribly aggressive and insulting, and it isn't meant that way. Imagine the sort of ribbing you'd get in the pub, if you would. Maybe one day we'll have an icon for that."

          How about that glass of beer, but tête-bêche? By recycling an existing image, we are conserving electrons. That is the first law. By Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation, the beer itself would be more strongly attracted to the table than to the glass. But in Canada, at least, putting an empty glass upside down on a table in a drinking establishment means that you are willing to fight anybody in the house. So for ribbing the glass must stay full. Or, there is no table, and therefore no fisticuffs.

          But what I really want to know is, where may I purchase this arachnophone? O, to hear the symphony of Metebelis III!

          I think that the subject in the headline has been dealt with in Fiction and in Science Fiction, but because it would probably get a book banned in many jurisdictions, authors have chosen to deal with it euphemistically or even symbolically. One such described a relationship between a male astronaut, and a female companion who had chosen an operation which made her more On-Off, less cyclic; to help with the exigencies of long periods in Space. Before long, he was wondering if he was wise to refuse this same operation. She was way too much his energizer bunny. As she wasn't a robot, he could not simply turn her off when he had had enough.

        3. Speltier

          Re: Kill arachnophobes

          So you'd rather your food (not to speak of everything you touch) is covered by dirty fly lips?

          The arachnophobe pressing the kill switch should be cursed by a plague of flies.

      3. Rattus Rattus
        Unhappy

        Re: "It would be banned in Australia, obviously."

        What isn't?

  8. Moosh

    I doubt i'd legally be able to program the robot to do what i'd like it to do to me in Britain.

    1. MrDamage Silver badge

      Given the wowser brigades distaste for squirting, I'm sure they will make serving beer from a sexbots nipples illegal.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      > I doubt i'd legally be able to program the robot to do what i'd like it to do to me in Britain.

      Yeah, but that's not really a robotics problem, that's a challenge to the artificial taste and smell industry and given how crap most of those are I suspect the female of the species has a long time to go before becoming obsolete.

  9. Anonymous C0ward
    Paris Hilton

    Let them over-exert, it'd be a fun way to go. My main concerns about sexbots, however, are whether their skin would be realistic to the touch, and whether they would be able to cuddle as well as providing a convenient hole.

  10. Your alien overlord - fear me

    Human sexuality has certain “physical limits” - not me. Bring it on sex-bots.

  11. thomn8r

    The spirit is willing, but the flesh is spongy and bruised

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBRFYNI420M

    1. cray74

      The spirit is willing, but the flesh is spongy and bruised

      Speaking of Futurama, I was wondering if Dr. Bendel had primarily done his research by watching Futurama's "I Dated a Robot" public service announcement.

      1. RAMChYLD

        Just noticed that the researcher's name is Bendel. That's one letter away from Bender...

        1. fajensen
          Terminator

          Yup - Those names: Adrian David Cheok, Kate Devlin, David Levy, Genevieve Liveley, Eleanor Hancock.

          I wonder, they do sound similar to all those people who want to date me if only I click on this here link.

          Maybe the robots are already coming? Sexbotzs and Conferences about them are just to lure us in and secretly replace us with robot copies - having plied all of our secrets from us with unspeakable and lewd acts.

    2. ecofeco Silver badge

      Snu snu!!!

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    So what do they propose doing about human lovers who over-exert their partners? I'm sure most of us have either done it or had it done to us, so no need to share details.

    I'd say this is going to be a natural step to removing sex from our lives at all, because we're already at the point where we can make sperm and ova from skin cells, how long can it be necessary for?

    1. Dave 126

      I'm actually more likely to over-exert myself for a human partner than I would if I were just out for my own pleasure. In fact when I stumble over an oasis during an occasional arid period, I'm likely to find myself aching all over the next day.

      What will do for the ticky-tickers of hedonists is the use of pharmaceutical substances - but over exertion can happen when dancing vertically, not just horizontally.

      For some reason I'm now thinking of a Philip K Dick story about a colony on Mars being fed a narcotic that only produces a hallucinatory idyll when the user is playing with miniature models of pleasant environments.

      1. Brewster's Angle Grinder Silver badge

        The Days of Perky Pat. With a reprise in The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch.

        1. Dave 126

          >The Days of Perky Pat. With a reprise in The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch.

          Ahhh, I've read Three Stigmata but not Perky Pat, whoch might explain why I was mild confused throughout. Of course I was expecting to be a bit confused anyways, on account of the author being PKD.

          1. Brewster's Angle Grinder Silver badge

            I thought it was Three Stigmata you were probably thinking of. I read them the wrong way round and I don't recall The Days Of Perky Pat clarifying much. They're the same concept used to different ends.

  13. Banksy
    Thumb Up

    Death by snu snu

    Sounds like a hell of a way to go. I can think of worse.

  14. Richard 31
    Paris Hilton

    If you have bought a sex-bot, you probably don't have a real person to screw anyway.

    Anyone seem my order?

Page:

POST COMMENT House rules

Not a member of The Register? Create a new account here.

  • Enter your comment

  • Add an icon

Anonymous cowards cannot choose their icon

Other stories you might like