“Every day women are being fed this message about their bodies. In the media, in film, in music. And this objectification is just there in society, it’s not something that’s confined to the area of sex and technology. And I think that having, this very reductive stereotype of the female form, it’s not causing that objectification but it’s adding to it.”
For the expert interview, we sat down with Kate Devlin, a British computer scientist, specialising in artificial intelligence (AI) and human-computer interaction (HCI). In the interview she discussed the different forms of sex robots and how they are still connected to the lineage of sex dolls, resulting in them still only being seen as the same instrument and with the same purpose. She also questioned the impact of sex robots, as they are still not main stream enough in society to have measurable impact yet.
“We can definitely use technology to enhance relationships between humans. We can use technology to mediate these relationships. And certainly, we know that lots of relationships start online. And through the pandemic we’ve seen how many people have kept in touch online, and that’s anything from friendships, to relationships to sexual activity. We don’t have to be in the same place at the same time as another human to have those feelings or to experience pleasure.”
Delving more into the topic of “Can we love a robot?” Kate Devlin talked more about the potential of virtual AI companions and partners, a trend that is becoming more popular in the last few years. Furthermore, the potential of sex technologies in general was discussed. Why does it have to be in human form? Instead, existing technologies could be improved: making them wearable, incorporating them into clothes and fabric, and more. There is lots of potential in that sector.
Thank you to Kate Devlin for taking part in the interview. If you want to know more about Kate Devlin or get into contact with her, find her on Twitter via @drkatedevlin or on Instagram under https://www.instagram.com/drkatedevlin/
#ethics #taboo #diversity #robots #womenintechnology #technology #futuretechnology #aicompanion #artificialintelligence