Friday, October 2, 2015
When to Draw the Line
After we talked about sex with robots in class, Professor Johnson's question helped me understand the flaw in my argument. Speaking from an objective point of view, sex with a robot isn't any different from using a toy, and I imagine there aren't too many romantic partners that would have an issue with their significant other ("s.o") using toys when they masturbate. And I imagine it's far better than cheating with a real human being. Personally, I still have an issue with this. If we were to reach a period in the future where robots looked like normal, natural humans, and that was what my boyfriend was using when he used "toys", I would have a problem with that. Even if it's only a robot, it's one that resembles a human woman, and sex with that robot resembles sex with a human woman other than me. Even if it's not literally cheating, it's the imitation of cheating, which is what bothers me about it. When a person cheats on their s.o, they've chosen another person that is either personally, romantically, or sexually attractive to them, and they have sex. With a robot, there isn't the same personal or romantic connection, but it's the same as meeting someone at a party and saying "You're hot. Let's have sex." There is no issue of consent or guilt on the other party’s part, but there is some form of sexual attraction there. After all, why would you chose to have sex with the robot over other toys if you’re not attracted to its physical features? And the question becomes more difficult to answer if you also have an s.o that’s available for sex? Again, this is only my personal view of the issue. If we’re talking about basic artificial intelligence with no form of sentience or human emotion, then sex with that robot is the same as using a toy. But personally, the resemblance to sex with a human bothers me.
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I think it's something that really depends on the individual. But, as we progress with technology we are going to have to think about how they effect these aspects of our lives. Just like how some people aren't comfortable with their significant other masturbating and some are, some people are going to be more comfortable with their significant other having intercourse with a robot than others. It's just going to have to be a conversation that you eventually have with your romantic partners.
ReplyDeleteI think Beatriz makes a great point. Some, are even comfortable with open relationships - committed to one person but willing to explore sexually with others, so they would likely be completely okay with this sexual freedom. Only the partners involved can determine what they feel comfortable with; to each, his/her/their own :]
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you! But I also agree with Beatriz and Gabrielle. I still think having sex with robots is weird, but if your just using them as a sex toy that might be considered okay for some people. As far as it being considered cheating, like Beatriz and Gabrielle said it just depends on the person. On the upside, you won't catch any diseases from having sex with a robot . . . well not that we know of.
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