Getting sexy with robotsGetting sexy with robots
All In The Mind
Sex robots are here to stay and the technology is developing fast. From the ancient Greeks to the latest science fiction, robots in human form have captured our imagination, but is it possible to form intimate relationships with these inanimate objects? Do we want to? And what about the many ethical concerns sex robots raise?
31:36•3 Feb 2019
Getting Sexy with Robots: AI, Desire and What It Says About Us
Episode Overview
- Sex robots currently form a very niche market, yet they prompt big questions about desire, intimacy and what makes relationships feel real.
- People can and do form emotional bonds with inanimate objects and technologies, projecting care, backstories and companionship onto them.
- There is concern about objectification, childlike robots and violent fantasies, but existing research has not shown clear links to increased real-world violence.
- Sex tech may offer benefits for people who struggle to access sexual pleasure due to physical or psychological barriers, including in older age.
- The field is dominated by straight male designers, and Kate Devlin argues for more diversity and more imaginative, less human-like forms of sex technology.
“"The sex robot market... raises so many interesting questions about what it means to be human and about what it means to have desire and to be intimate."”
What secrets to maintaining sobriety can be uncovered from a conversation about sex robots and artificial intelligence? Quite a few, as it turns out, especially around loneliness, intimacy and how humans seek connection. This episode of *All In The Mind* looks at sex robots less as a tech gimmick and more as a mirror held up to human desire and relationships.
Host Lynne Malcolm speaks with Dr Kate Devlin, senior lecturer in computing at Goldsmiths, University of London, who has spent years studying human–computer interaction, sex tech and why people might want machines that appear to care.
As she puts it, the sex robot market is tiny, but it "raises so many interesting questions about what it means to be human and about what it means to have desire and to be intimate." You’ll hear how current sex robots are basically high-end sex dolls with limited movement and chatbot-style personalities, like Harmony, whose creator Matt McMullen wants "a very open ended kind of discourse" that includes sexual conversation.
The chat looks at why people form bonds with objects, why love doesn’t always need to be reciprocated to feel real, and how we project stories, care and companionship onto inanimate bodies. The conversation also gets into the uncomfortable stuff: objectification of women, childlike dolls and serious legal concerns, plus fears that acting out violent fantasies might spill into real life.
Kate explains there’s no evidence for that so far, yet she stresses the need for regulation and for much more diversity in who builds this technology. For anyone curious about how tech, sex, loneliness and ethics intersect – and how future tools might support intimacy rather than replace it – this episode offers plenty to chew on. It might even leave you asking what kind of connection you’re really looking for: human, digital, or somewhere in between.
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