Robot Sex

[ysabetwordsmith]

Here's an amusing tidbit about moral attitudes regarding robot sex.

My view: Having sex with another sentient being is cheating, if you have accepted monogamous parameters in your relationship.  Having sex with an inanimate object is not cheating, because it is not a person.

What do you think?

Comments

Well...

[ysabetwordsmith]

Consent is meaningless for ordinary objects, such as vibrators. We're in complete agreement there.

With computers, robots, androids, etc. there is more to consider.

First, sentience rarely emerges fully formed. It tends to evolve gradually. Therefore it is probable that animal-level artificial intelligence will emerge before human-level AI does. This brings in your point about non-consent with animals.

Second, there's a difference in consent issues between a completely inanimate object (such as a dildo, which does not even move on its own) and an object programmed to move, make noise, or otherwise mimic life. Having a nonsentient machine programmed to emulate non-consent seems morally questionable to me, not something correlated with good mental health.

Re: Well...

[thnidu]

sentience rarely emerges fully formed.
(1) Which does indeed bring up issues, though I seriously doubt that such conditions exist yet or will in my lifetime. Not that I'm planning ...

Having a nonsentient machine programmed to emulate non-consent seems morally questionable to me, not something correlated with good mental health.
(2) I agree on the second clause: it would be unhealthy to simulated-rape a robot, i.e. to have sex with a robot programmed to react as though it were being raped.
(3) Whether it would be immoral... is not so clear to me. But given (2), I have to conclude that it would be immoral to create and provide such simulated victims.

I can make an analogy that's feasible in the present day.  TRIGGER WARNING  Imagine a video game in which the player is a guard at a Nazi concentration camp, and the goal is to ascend to being the director of the camp by devising and implementing ever more efficient and vicious treatment of the prisoners. -- Dear God, it hurs me just to type this, and I have to close my eyes to what i am writing. My fatherinlaw escaped from a death train...

Re: Well...

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> (1) Which does indeed bring up issues, though I seriously doubt that such conditions exist yet or will in my lifetime. Not that I'm planning ... <<

Considering that people have been exploring artificial intelligence and artificial life already, I would not be surprised to see low-level awareness emerge at any time. Sentience ... well, it would take longer, but remember how fast computers run. It took billions of years to reach sentience among carbonlife, but silicon life is likely to go a lot faster, especially with people pushing it.

>> (2) I agree on the second clause: it would be unhealthy to simulated-rape a robot, i.e. to have sex with a robot programmed to react as though it were being raped. <<

Okay ...

>> (3) Whether it would be immoral... is not so clear to me. But given (2), I have to conclude that it would be immoral to create and provide such simulated victims. <<

If unhealthy, then it might be considered within the penumbra of self-destructive behavior, which is often considered immoral. People do it; some categories are even fully legal. But it's frowned upon.

>> I can make an analogy that's feasible in the present day. <<

O_O

Yeah, that's horrifying. And plausible.

Some extant video games concern me. I'm not thrilled with the level of violence in general and the lack of nonviolent, cooperative options. But the ones that really bother me are the games where the idea is to make a big car wreck. They're flashy and fun to watch; I've seen them played. Heck, I've fiddled with racing games and wrecked cars on purpose, which is probably what inspired the purpose-built wreck games. Thing is, most people don't carry guns all the time but they do regularly drive cars. Practice trains reflexes. Practicing how to cause a car wreck seems like it might subtly influence one's driving reflexes.

I wouldn't ban the games, because I don't believe in censorship. But I wouldn't make them, and I don't feel that it's prudent to play them.

Your family was lucky. I am grateful for that.