Unless properly regulated, teens risk falling in love with & losing virginity to robots, AI expert warns

Following the warning by artificial intelligence (AI) experts that robots could kill, scientists from Google’s AI division, DeepMind, and Oxford University are developing the method to ensure that robots can be repeatedly and safely interrupted by human overseers. However, as industry churns out sex robots, it seems manufacturers should also develop a similar killer switch on these sex dolls.

Otherwise, teens risk losing their virginity to sophisticated humanoid robots, warns Noel Sharkey, AI expert, reports Financial Review. He issued the warning at the Celtenham Science Festival where Sharkey admits being skeptical about warning by other AI experts on robots destroying humans. Although he thinks it has little chance of happening within the next 500 years, his worry is people falling in love with androids, reports Gloucester Citizen.

With at least 14 South Korean and Japanese companies making and marketing “childcare” robots, Sharkey sees sex robots entering mainstream in a few years’ time and cost going down. The current price of a sex robot, such as Roxxxy or Rocky True Companion, is about $13,500.

Sharkey says, “I do worry about people bonding and possibly having a relationship with what is essentially a box full of computers.” He continues, “What if it’s your first time – your first sexual experience? What are you going to think of the opposite sex then?”

With companion robots also being used on children, Sharkey cites “serious attachment disorders” observed in some cases where young kids had emotionally bonded with AI, according to reports from California.

He says companion robots raises issue of deceit because the AI lack emotion. “These robots are deceiving them and fooling them into thinking they love something that can’t love them back,” Sharley rues.

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