AI and sex robots : an examination of the technologization of sexuality

Abstract

The emergence of sex robots with rudimentary but slowly advancing AI is a relatively new phenomenon, and there is little understanding about what the possible implications of these automatons could be, particularly regarding their impact on human sexuality. Drawing on a number of media sources, this paper looks at AI and sex robots, specifically how they function as a means by which a certain kind of sexuality is constructed and maintained. The specific sources are the movies A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), Ex Machina (2014), and Blade Runner (2007), and the television adaptation of Westworld (2016). I look at this relationship of sexuality and technology and the ways it has shaped not only how each of these categories are viewed in relation to each other, but also the ways that they have had a direct impact on the development of social practices. Specifically, I am interested in the ways sex robots could be used to reinforce harmful gender stereotypes about women, and lead to sexual violence. This project aims to fill this gap in the literature around the topic of sex robots, with the approach being theoretical in nature due to the lack of empirical data on the subject.