‘Experience the legendary Realdoll feel’, is how the company of the same name advertises its latest line of sex robots. Each doll has ‘an AI-controlled head that enhances your pleasure as well as a functioning Bluetooth vagina that you can stimulate to make your Realdoll climax’. She ‘is designed to learn about you, adapt to you and be your companion in the most intimate way’, the makers proclaim.

But learning sex robots like the Realdoll may cause serious problems, warns legal specialist Carlotta Rigotti. She is a postdoctoral researcher at the Leiden Centre for Law and Digital Technologies and recently published the book The Regulation of Sex Robots.

The subject crossed her path by chance. ‘In 2018, I interned at a law firm and worked on sexual offence cases. During that period, a brothel with sex robots from the company Lumidolls opened in Turin, the city I’m from. Well, not really sex robots... these were actually sex dolls, because they weren’t equipped with AI.’

AVERAGE PORN FILM

According to various media reports, the dolls proved popular. The New York Post wrote that clients paid a hundred euros to spend an hour with the anime-inspired Aki, the angelic Lily, or Katy with her ‘piercing gaze’.

‘The police shut down the brothel after two weeks’, says Rigotti. ‘They said it didn’t comply with public health legislation.’ Nonsense, according to the legal specialist. It was clear that the authorities felt that the sex dolls were morally reprehensible. There was no legal basis for shutting down the brothel. It became a scandal. Italy is rather restrictive when it comes to sexuality. Banning something is always a bad idea if you’re not honest and transparent about what the real problem is. In Italy, there is no debate at all about the pros and cons of sex robots.’

But there is also hardly any discussion about it in other countries, says Rigotti, and that needs to change. ‘The robots can be harmful because they look extremely stereotypical. They are modelled after the women in the average porn film.’

Large breasts and buttocks, dressed as girls in school uniforms or sexy nurses. ‘Clients, typically heterosexual men, can customise them to their own fantasies and tastes. This reinforces the idea of women as sex objects. Ultimately, this could lead to the dehumanisation and oppression of women.’

Male sex robots also exist, but there are only a few variants that cannot be customised. ‘There are also models inspired by films and TV series. For example, there is a prototype that looks like a creature from the film Avatar – entirely blue.’

It is difficult to estimate the exact size of the industry. There are no reliable figures. ‘It remains partly an underground business. Companies also use vague terms such as ‘companion robots’ for their products. They cost on average around ten thousand euros, so the market is fairly exclusive.’

SUBMISSIVE

The AI robots respond to what the user wants and play into their fantasies, including violent ones. For example, you can have them act out a rape scenario. ‘A robot doesn’t need to give consent for sex. This could lead to sexual violence against women becoming normalised’

For these reasons, the arrival of robots was met with resistance. In 2015, Kathleen Richardson, British professor of Ethics and Culture of Robots and AI, launched the so-called campaign against sex robots (now: campaign against porn robots). ‘Initially, the movement called for a ban on the robots, but it has since shifted its tone somewhat and is now more focused on making the issue open for discussion.’

The more lifelike the robots, the blurrier the line between humans and machines. ‘If you see the sex robot as property, something you dominate, there is a chance that you will start to see people, in this case usually women, as property too. She is submissive to you – has to do what you want. The technology does exactly what the owner wants, so should a woman have to do the same?’

Nevertheless, Rigotti is not in favour of a ban. ‘Feminist hardliners say: ban them. The other side of the spectrum believes that there is no need for regulation at all. I think both camps are too extreme. Because that way, you always end up marginalising groups. I try to find a balance. How can we steer the design of robots in a certain direction through AI regulation?’

She also believes that a general ban is pointless because it would not solve the social problem. ‘If systematic oppression of women and other groups is the problem, then criminalisation is not the solution. It would also be a symbolic ban: no one is going to enforce it.’

Addressing design and software is a better idea. ‘Produce robots that are more tailored to women and LBGTQI+ people and are not built on porn clichés. Offer more diversity, because everyone has their own preferences. Everything is possible. When it comes to the range of sex toys on offer, there is, in fact, a wide selection.’

Furthermore, the machines should ‘not just be fed with extremely masculine data’, but with a variety of data. ‘The programming needs to become less stereotypical. It should also be financially attractive for companies to make robots for other groups. In the end, it’s all about making money.’

SECURITY RULES

Certain things should be banned, thinks Rigotti. ‘The simulated rape scenarios are extremely problematic. I propose making such acts impossible. At the moment, there are no laws yet that directly relate to sex robots, because no one has thought that they might be necessary. 

But according to the legal specialist, existing regulations are already applicable to the robots. ‘At the EU level, there are security rules that stipulate how personal data is processed. The recent European AI Regulation, which categorises AI systems according to risk in order to protect vulnerable users, could also be applied.

‘The EU regulation also states that inequality must be avoided in the collection and processing of data by AI. Unfortunately, the regulation does not address issues such as gender. These are product security rules that do not consider the negative social impact of these robots, for example on women. I would like to see that addressed. 

‘The regulation could also be applied to gender. That would have consequences for sex robots. Companies that want to sell them in the EU would have to comply with those rules and change their programming and design. Then, they might come to the conclusion that there are more markets for sex robots than they thought.’