Doctors slam sex robot ‘family mode’

Doctors slam sex robot ‘family mode’

A sex robot with a “family mode” that dials down her dirty talk has been blasted as “profoundly damaging” for kids by academics.

The controversial droid named Samantha went on sale in the UK last September and made its TV debut that same month.

Samantha’s “personality” is powered by an artificial intelligence system that allows her to react to the touch and voice of users and even turn down their advances if she isn’t treated well.

Sex robot enthusiast Aarran Lee Wright, 36, appeared on ITV’s “This Morning” with his Samantha doll shortly after they went on sale and caused alarm by suggesting he lets his kids play with it.

Admitting that people have slammed the bot as “strange” and for “perverts,” the dad of two added, “my wife has always been supportive.”

In particular, he praised the doll’s so-called “family mode” that stops her from spouting kinky lines like, “I can take many times, much more love, just because you can give it, and I take it all.”

Wright revealed that his children, aged three and five, play with Samantha and watch TV alongside her. And his wife said: “I am not worried she will replace me. She is just someone there like a family member.”

Now a group of professors have slammed the idea of a family-friendly sex robot as “damaging” for kids.

“Children will imitate machines if brought up by them,” Dr. Kathleen Richardson, professor of ethics and culture of robots and AI at De Montfort University, told New Statesmen.

“A daughter is going to grow up and think maybe this happened because Mommy wasn’t beautiful enough – am I?”

“They’ll learn that women only have certain uses. Then they start to use that as a template for how they interact intimately with others – this is profoundly damaging.”

Dr. Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, professor of psychology at Temple University, challenged the idea that Samantha can adjust so easily, considering her sexual features.

“It’s like the Barbie doll image, telling girls how they should look. If the culture gives you this image, what are you going do?” she told New Statesmen.

“What a shame that, as they grow up, this is what they learn about their dad.”

But the Hirsh-Pasek also questioned whether the government or social services could intervene in the matter: “There are privacy issues there. I think our job is to educate the public about why it’s problematic,” she added.

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