This has really horrific.

I saw this on TV and could not believe what I was hearing. I am all for robots being able to assist in the house if one is disabled and eg has difficulty changing bedding or hoovering but the other suggestion to me is abhorrent.

I have already read about it somewhere else VQ it's interesting and no doubt will come to be reasonably commonplace, as these robots replace the plastic/vinyl dolls in use at the moment.
A lot of men cannot form relationships for various reasons, health/looks/mental health problems and do use sex dolls, robots are the next step up.
Yes, there must be ethics discussed and legislation will be needed to make sure that all is done oroperly, but there will always be 'the dark side' where ethics are circumvented, and ( for instance) child dolls would be sold.

I agree with above posts
All new to me (what a sheltered life I lead).

But if these robots are almost human, could they actually help to protect society from sex predators?

I didn't see much to object to until I read about the child robots - but I suppose it was inevitable.

But would they protect us from sexual predators. If rape is about power then a potential rapist would eventually stop the role play and do it for real.

Perhaps if you think of the robots as machines ( which is what they are) it doesn't seem so bad.They fufill a need in society.

I m not horrified by this (except of course the children bit which is worrying or could it save kids, hard one to know ) but looking at it logically there are people who can't have sex for whatever reason but need/want it and I suppose they are only an upmarket vibrator or rubber doll aren't they ? Why is it abhorrent Charliegirl ?

I did not like what I was reading on the link and I'm glad I don't expect to live long enough to see these being accepted. BUT if we're hearing about the possibility then I'm sure the actuality is happening already and it is up to us to prevent our grandchildren being abused.

Yes robots can be of use BUT (again) where does development stop and who will have the authority to stop it? Will extreme robotic usage then be driven 'underground' and become an alternative culture? Back when the first 'test tube' baby was born I was appalled by scientists meddling with nature and when 'Dolly the sheep' was cloned I thought the world had gone mad. I could understand the benefits in some areas but was (and still am) afraid for the future if, no when the knowledge and ability is used by corrupt megalomaniacs.

Didn't read the link as I've heard a couple of pieces on Radio Four about it lately and really didn't want to hear more. I'm concerned that if it becomes acceptable to use robots to satisfy what is as present considered perversion then some will still want the 'real thing' and that will no longer seem as shocking or perverted and a blind eye may be turned to it as happened in the past.

Sex offenders usually start by fantasising about their desires. They may use pornography, which as we all know is easily accessed via the internet.
Paedophiles used to decorate their cells, or bedside cabinet in the special hospitals like Moss Side, with photographic images of infants modelling say swim wear or underwear. The images fuelled fantasies in the absence of real light fe children. I'm totally unconvinced that the provision of child robots would satisfy the needs of paedophiles. The paedophile quoted would insist he only acted on his desires by using a child robot, wouldn't he.

Better all round if people control inappropriate behaviour, what ever it may be.

I certainly don't think it should be used for those purposes either. I had heard about this on the radio so didn't read the full link I didn't realise they were advocating them for paedophiles

Women will just be phased out.......I wonder how that will happen? This is a far bigger issue than just blow ups dolls being upgraded, it is the femminist problem of our age....what is our value in society going to be?

@radicalnan - maybe not all the sex robots will be for men, i would def buy one if they did a male version!

They lost me at "if you have severe Alzheimer's you can't tell the difference". In the words of Janice off Friends: OH. MY. GOD!

I think men might be phased out if they develop the perfect robot man. Imagine if he could be ordered to your own specification. To like what you like, to be the ideal companion. I'm not just talking about sex here I mean the whole package. If he got boring you could switch him off and put him in the cupboard. I'm talking about a walking talking robot so human you wouldn't be able to tell. Human men could kept for baby making only, just their sperm. A scary prospect. But I bet they will be made one day in the future, long after we are all gone, lol.

It is a very sad indictment on society.

I was speaking to a friend whose very young looking 11 year old daughter was abused by a close family member paedophile. I wonder if a doll was available he might have left the poor child alone, or whether it would have encouraged him.

Whatever turns you on to an extent...
However, what happens when a person (usually male but not exclusively) has become so mentally programmed to doing whatever they want to the robot doll that they 'choose to forget' a real person has feelings, emotions, pain, and most important of all the ultimate right to say "No"
I can just hear the do-gooders defending the abusers and paedophiles... "Well your Honour, he/she didn't realise they couldn't rape/beat the person in question because their robot doll never objects!!

We are in the end end times.

What on earth do you mean, 'do gooders'? Anyone reporting to the Court about the risks posed by a sex offender would be well versed in assessing risk.
So far as NameChange's question about whether a child doll would have protected her friend's child from the family friend who abused her, I suspect not. The fantasies that accompany sex offending are unlikely to be satisfied by a robot. I agree with radicalnan, this raises much bigger issues than the upgrading of blow up dolls.

The Guardian has run a couple of articles about this, followed by this comment piece by Suzanne Moore, which encapsulates my views exactly. If we're so disturbed by the idea of a child robot, why are we not more uneasy about objectifying women in the same way? I'm also curious about whether the industry will develop male dolls for gay men, even if it doesn't occur to them to make them for women for the sake of equality. I think it would be a more difficult job, though, since we might require a little more kindness, understanding and gallantry from our mechanical friend, and for 'him' to sound sincere. Is artificial intelligenence up to the task yet?
www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/technology/commentisfree/2017/jul/05/sex-robots-innovation-driven-by-male-fantasy-is-not-a-revolution

Photographic images of children in a sexual context are rightly illegal, as well as abhorrent. I cannot see how a robotic facsimile is any different.

It all started with the dildo.

Unless they can program sexual robots to feel humiliation and fear I can't see many human victims being saved, abusers aren't in it for just the sex, it is a complicated set of emotional drivers that gives them satisfaction. Just the notion of any sort of robot being developed as a partner sexual or otherwise is repugnant to me.

I was considering one that cuts the grass......John Lewis sell them, they are not wipe down versions of Brad Pitt........but still I have doubts about myself and the thin edge of the wedge.....robots taking jobs.......scary.

Kyliemay, you should read a short story by Isaac Assimov, one of his robot stories, called Satisfaction Guaranteed. Actually gransnetters might enjoy reading his stories generally. We seem to be at the point now that he was writing about when they were being interoduced into society. His stories span a long period when they are fears, resented, exploited, taken for granted and then indispensable.