Scots festival to discuss humans having sex with robots – as expert says the trend is here to stay
The talk entitled Cyborgs, Sexbots and Sexual Intimacy will be hosted later this month at the Sanctuary festival in Galloway
A SCOTS festival is set to discuss humans having sex with robots – as an expert says people need to face up to it.
An academic is set to tell an audience at the event that the age of robot sex is on its way.
Vivienne Kuh, a public engagement officer at the University of Bristol, will host a presentation entitled Cyborgs, Sexbots and Sexual Intimacy later this month at the Sanctuary festival in Galloway.
She will also debate whether having sex with a robot counts as infidelity at the adults-only talk.
She said: "The age of robot sex is already on its way. It's not something that can be stopped by people saying it shouldn't happen.
"One of the biggest worries is that we will be too prudish to discuss what the future should be like, so it will be decided by businessmen in search of profit.
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"At the moment it's been driven by the market forces of pornography and sex dolls.
"Yesterday's science fiction very often becomes the normality of today."
The talk will explore ethical issues around robot sex and what the psychological consequences would be of having simulated relationships with machines.
A description of the event on the festival's website reads: "Vivienne Kuh works in public engagement at the UK University of Bristol. Raised on a solid diet of 1950s science fiction, she studied philosophy and has spent her career working at the cutting edge of arts and immersive technologies.
"She is fascinated by the way that humans engage and form relationships with technology and more recently her interests have turned to the ethical implications of our relationship with robotics, both now and in the rapidly approaching future.
"The talk will cover aspects of sex, intimacy and violence and will not be suitable for children."
Last month it emerged that a brothel in Dublin had introduced a robot sex doll, which men were paying £80 an hour to use.
Imported from the US, it has a metal skeleton covered in silicone and is programmed to respond to vibrations in a human-like way.
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Other models, which cost up to £11,600, are fitted with sensors that respond to touch and demonstrate pre-programmed emotions and personality traits.
And we told you earlier how Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield looked horrified on This Morning as they were introduced to family man Arran Squire’s sex robot -who has threesomes with him and his wife and even plays with his kids.
Brunette bombshell bot Samantha had to be switched off during the segment in case she yelled out something rude, but some of her favourite lines were played at the start of the interview, they included, “I can take many times,” “I take it all”, and “I love you too.”
A report by the Foundation for Responsible Robotics concluded that android love dolls will be increasingly common over the next decade, but it warned that the trend could damage human relationships.
Earlier this month, cyber security expert Dr Nick Patterson warned that sexbots could be hacked to kill their owners.
Sanctuary will take place in Galloway Forest Park on the weekend of September 23 and 24.
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