This post will have some spoilers for a few shows and movies. Be warned.
I recently watched a series on Amazon called Humans. (It is originally from AMC and Channel 4.) From the site, the show description is: “In a parallel present, the latest must-have gadget is a Synth: a highly-developed robotic servant. In an attempt to keep his family together, Joe Hawkins purchases a Synth, only to discover that sharing life with a machine has far-reaching and chilling consequences.”
One of the repeating themes of the show is how some people began to anthropomorphize their in-home Synths. One went so far as to try to sue a theater for throwing her and her Synth out of a play because the Synth wasn’t supposed to be there. She tried to say it was a violation of its/his “human” rights because she believed he emotionally understood the play.
As would be expected, one of the uses for such Synths is sex. There are Synth brothels and the units available for in home use have “adult options” where they can give the appearance of passion.
One of the focuses of the series is a family of Joe and Laura Hawkins and their three kids. Joe buys a Synth they call Anita to help out around the house. Laura at first doesn’t want Anita around until the Synth saves Laura’s son’s life. Later, when Laura is out unexpectedly to do something for work, Joe becomes jealous and decides to turn on Anita’s adult options “just to see.” He regrets it almost before they are done and orders Anita to delete the records of what happened from her memory. Of course it comes to light and Laura calls him a cheater while he tries to justify his actions by comparing it to using a sex toy.
I suppose it makes some sense that Laura would feel betrayed like that. Anita had been living in their house for a while at that point, taking care of the children. Their youngest had already emotionally bonded with Anita like with a nanny or something.
This isn’t the only example of sex with robots in TV or movies, of course. I watched Blade Runner earlier, and had an odd feeling at the scene were Deckard and Rachael get together in his apartment. Deckard makes Rachael (a Nexus 6 Replicant) say “Kiss me.” and “I want you.” I’m still trying to decide if he wanted her to realize she felt it or if he just wanted to think she felt it.
So, this raises a few questions. Does having sex with a robot count in terms of relationships? Is it in effect any different from using a hand-held sex toy while fantasizing about someone? Does it matter if the AI actually feels an emotional connection or just the human?
Maybe it’s not cheating if the subject of the act doesn’t have agency. An inanimate sex toy can’t decide on its own. A fantasy can’t decide on its own. But what if the subject of the fantasy is someone you know?
And then, what if the robot has some agency but also has an imperative to obey whatever a human says? Would it then be coercion? Sexual harassment? If (or when) we have sex robots, can you rape a machine?
What used to be thought were solid lines of what it meant to be human in every part of our lives are becoming increasingly blurred. If (or when) we create robots with a level of real AI that provides any agency at all, those lines will become even less clear.