Sex with Robots

In the near future it seems probable that some people will have sex with robots, see the rise of the love droids . In this posting I will discuss some of the problems this possibility raises. I will divide my discussion into two parts. For the most part my discussion will consider sex with robots which are simply machines before moving on, and much more fancifully, to discussing sex with robots which might be considered as persons.

Let us consider someone having sex with a robot which isn’t a person, is simply a machine. Human beings have created objects to be used for sexual purposes such as vibrators and other sex toys. If a robot isn’t a person, then it might appear that someone having sex with a robot is unproblematic in much the same way as is the use of these artefacts. I now want to argue that this appearance is false. But before making my argument I want to consider the nature of sex. Sex among humans isn’t simply a matter of reproduction. Human beings enjoy sex. Neither is this enjoyment a purely mechanical thing. According to Robert Nozick,

“Sex is not simply a matter of frictional force. The excitement comes largely in how we interpret the situation and how we perceive the connection to the other. Even in masturbatory fantasy, people dwell upon their actions with others; they do not get excited by thinking of themselves whilst masturbating. “(1)

If we accept that Nozick’s view what does having sex with a robot really mean to the person having sex? Provided a robot has been supplied with the appropriate genitalia would someone might want to have sex with it? I would suggest it does not in many cases. Let us assume that a robot has the appropriate genitalia, four legs, one arm and several detachable eyes. I would suggest very few people would want to have sex with such a machine. Nozick argues even when masturbating someone is imaging having sex with another person and I would suggest much the same applies to having sex with a robot. If someone has sex with a robot, he would want it to look like a beautiful person because he is imagining having sex with such a person.

What are the implications of accepting the importance of such imagining? First I would suggest having sex with a robot is just an enhanced form of masturbation. Masturbation isn’t wrong because it doesn’t harm others. Having sex with any robot which is purely a machine doesn’t harm others and so by analogy also isn’t wrong. Indeed, in some circumstances masturbation might be an acceptable choice for those who are physically or emotionally incapacitated and perhaps also for those who are incarcerated. However even if we accept the above masturbation isn’t ideal and neither would be sex with a robot. Someone having imaginary sex with a person is having inferior sex because what he desires is real sex.

I have argued that the first reason why someone might want to have sex with a robot is that he cannot have sex with another person and that there is nothing wrong with his actions. Anyone having sex with a robot knows he cannot harm the robot. This gives rise to a second reason why someone might want to have sex with a robot. Someone might know that the type of sexual activity he wants to indulge in might be harmful to another human being and because he knows he cannot harm a robot he prefers to indulge in this activity with a robot. Does acting on such a preference matter for after all he isn’t harming anyone else? Kant argued we shouldn’t be cruel to animals as this might make us cruel to human beings. Might it be then if someone engages in such sexual activity with a robot that this activity might make him more likely to engage in harmful sexual acts with other human beings?  At present there is no conclusive evidence to support Kant’s argument that if someone is cruel to animals that this cruelty makes him more likely to be cruel to other people. If this is so it seems doubtful that if someone engages in such sexual activity with a robot that his activity would not make him more likely to do so with another human being. The above is an empirical question and cannot be settled by philosophical analysis. However, someone engaging in sex with a robot, which would be harmful to a human being might harm himself. I have previously argued that for the users of pornography there is a split between fantasy and reality, see wooler.scottus . I further argued in the case of sexual practices which might harm others that the maintenance of the split between fantasy and reality is absolutely essential. I have argued above that someone having sex with a robot imagines he is having sex with a person. It follows for someone engaging in sex with a robot, which might harm another human being, that the maintenance of the split between fantasy and reality is also essential. I further argued that if someone uses pornography that this split threatens the unity of his will which is damaging to his identity. It follows that someone engaging in sex with a robot, which would be harmful to a human being might harm himself by damaging his identity.

Some people assume at some time in the future some robots might become persons. I am extremely sceptical about this possibility but nonetheless I will now consider some of the problems of someone having sex with such a robot. However, before I do so I will question whether anyone would want sex with such a robot. Let us accept Nozick is correct in his assertion that “sex is not simply a matter of frictional force. The excitement comes largely in how we interpret the situation and how we perceive the connection to the other.” How do we perceive the connection to a robot which is also a person? I suggested above that a robot can take many forms. Would anyone want to have sex with a robot with four legs, one arm, several detachable eyes, appropriate genitalia even if it could be considered as a person? Persons are partly defined by the actions they are capable of enacting and these actions are partly defined by their bodies’ capabilities. Robots can have very different bodies from us. A robot with a different body structure might be capable of very different actions to us, such a robot even if it is considered as a person might be very different sort of person to the sort we are. The same might also be true of a robot with similar structure which is constructed from different materials. If someone or something is very different to us then the connection between us and that someone or something becomes tenuous. Would someone want to sex with any robot with which he had only a tenuous connection, I doubt it. Of course someone might want to have sex with such a robot provided it looked like a beautiful human being. But if this is so isn’t he really imaging having sex with a person and the problems associated with having sex with a robot which is purely a machine once again become relevant.

In conclusion I have argued that someone would not harm others by having sex with a robot and his actions would not be morally wrong. However, I argued whilst it might not be wrong to have sex with any robot which is purely a machine that it might nonetheless be damaging to the user’s identity, in much the same way as pornography, by splitting character. Lastly questioned whether anyone would really want to have sex with any robot which might be considered as a person.

1. 1.     Robert Nozick, 1989, The Examined Life, Touchstone, page 61

Robots and Persons

In an interesting post John Danaher asks if someone can be friends with a robot, see philosophicaldisquisitions . He argues virtue friendship might be possible with a robot. Virtue friendship involves two entities sharing values and beliefs which benefit them. Let us accept that any entity which is capable of having values and beliefs can be regarded as a person. Perhaps one of the great apes might be regarded as a person but can the same be said of a robot? Does it make sense to say a robot might have rights or can be regarded as a person? In what follows I will limit my discussion to robots but my discussion could equally well be applied to some advanced system of AI or algorithms. At present he actions of some robot have some purpose but this purpose doesn’t have any meaning which is independent of human beings. At present the actions of a robot have no more meaning which is independent of us than the action of the wind in sculpting a sand dune. In the future it is conceivable that this situation might change but I am somewhat sceptical and believe at the present time there is no need to worry about granting rights to robots akin to human rights. In this posting I will argue the nature of belief means to worry about robot personhood is both premature and unnecessary.

How should we regard the actions of a robot if it has no beliefs? What are the differences between the wind sculpting a sand dune and the actions of a robot? One difference is that even if both the wind and a robot don’t have beliefs that nonetheless a robot’s actions are in accordance with someone’s beliefs, its designer or programmer. But does this difference matter? A refrigerator is acting in accordance with our belief that it will keep our food cold. If we don’t want to grant personhood to refrigerators, why should we do so for robots? Perhaps then we might implant some beliefs into robots and after some time such robots might acquire their own emergent beliefs. Perhaps such robots should be regarded as persons. Implanting such beliefs will not be easy and may well be impossible. However, I see no reason, even if such implantation is possible, why we should regard a such a robot as some sort of person. If a person has some belief, then this belief causes him to behave in certain ways. How do we implant a belief in a robot? We instruct the robot how to behave in certain circumstances. In this situation the of course the robot behaves in accordance with the implanted belief but the primary cause of this behaviour is not this implanted belief but rather a belief of those who carried out the implantation. A robot in this situation cannot be said to be behaving authentically. In this situation I can see no reason why we should attribute personhood to a robot which uses implanted beliefs as outlined above.

At this point it might be objected that even if a robot shouldn’t be considered as a person it might be of moral concern. According to Peter Singer what matters for something to matter morally is not that it can think but that it can feel. Animals can feel and should be of moral concern. Present day robots can’t and shouldn’t. Present day robots are made of inorganic materials such as steel and silicon. However it might be possible to construct a robot partly from biological material, see Mail Online. If such a robot could feel then it should be of moral concern but this doesn’t mean we should consider it as a person, frogs can feel and should be of moral concern but they aren't persons. Nonetheless I would suggest that the ability to feel is a necessary precursor for believing which is a precursor for personhood.

For the sake of argument let us assume that it is possible to create a robot which the primary cause of its behaviour is its implanted or emergent beliefs.  What can be said about this robot’s beliefs?  When such a robot decides to act the primary cause of the action is its internal beliefs, it is acting in a manner which might be regarded as authentic. How might such a robot’s beliefs and actions be connected? Perhaps they are linked by Kant’s hypothetical imperative.  The hypothetical imperative states,

“Whoever wills an end also wills (insofar as reason has decisive influence on his actions) the indispensably means to it that are within his power. (1)

Some might suggest that having a set of beliefs and accepting Kant’s hypothetical imperative are necessary conditions for personhood, some might even regard them as sufficient conditions. They might further suggest that any robot meeting these conditions should be regarded as a candidate for personhood. Of course it might be possible to design a robot which conforms to the hypothetical imperative, but conforming is not the same as accepting. Let us accept anyone or anything that can be regarded as person must have some beliefs and must accept rather than conform to the hypothetical imperative.

What does it mean for someone to accept the hypothetical imperative? Firstly, he must believe it is true, the hypothetical imperative is one of his beliefs. Someone might believe that he is made up of atoms but this belief doesn’t require any action when action is possible. The hypothetical imperative is different because it connects willed ends with action. Can the hypothetical imperative be used to explain why a robot should act on its beliefs, be they implanted by others or emergent? Kant seems to believe that the hypothetical imperative can be based on reason. I will argue reason can only give us reason to act in conjunction with our caring about something. I will now argue the hypothetical imperative only makes sense if an agent views beliefs in a particular way. What does it mean to will an end? I would suggest if someone wills an end that he must care about that end. If someone doesn’t care about or value some end, then he has no reason to pursue that end. What then does it mean to care about something? According to Frankfurt if someone cares about something he becomes vulnerable when that thing is diminished and is benefited when it is enhanced. (2) People by nature can suffer and feel joy robots can’t. It is worth noting animals can also suffer and feel joy making them like people with rights rather than like robots. The above raises an interesting question. Must any entity which is capable of being conscious, robot or animal, be able to suffer and feel joy? If we accept the above then the ends we will must be things we care about. Moreover, if we care about ends then we must value them. It follows if the hypothetical imperative is to give us cause to act on any belief that that belief must be of value to us. It follows the hypothetical imperative can only be used to explain why a robot should act on its beliefs provided such a robot values those beliefs which requires it becoming vulnerable. A right is of no use to any entity for which the implementation of the right doesn't matter, isn't vulnerable to the right not being implemented.

I have argued any belief which causes us to act must be of value to us and that if we find something valuable we are vulnerable to the fate of the thing we find valuable. What then does it mean to be vulnerable? To be vulnerable to something means that we can be harmed. Usually we are vulnerable to those thing we care about in a psychological sense. Frankfurt appears to believe that we don’t of necessity become vulnerable to the diminishment of the things we value by suffering negative affect. He might argue we can become dissatisfied and seek to alleviate our dissatisfaction without suffering any negative affect. I am reluctant to accept becoming vulnerable can be satisfactorily explained by becoming dissatisfied without any negative affect. It seems to me being dissatisfied must involve some desire to change things and that this desire must involve some negative affect. I would argue being vulnerable to those thing we value involves psychological harm and that this harm must involve negative affect.

Let us accept that in order to be a person at all someone or something must accept and act on the hypothetical imperative. Let us also accept that the hypothetical imperative only gives someone or something reason to act on some belief provided that someone or something must value that belief. Let us still further accept that to value something someone or something must care about what they value and that caring about of necessity must include some affect. People feel affect and so are candidates for personhood. It is hard to see how silicon based machines or algorithms can feel any affect, positive or negative. It follows it is hard to see why silicon based machines or algorithms should be considered as candidates for personhood. It appears the nature of belief means any worries concerning robot personhood when the robot intelligence are silicon based are unnecessary. Returning to my starting point it would appear that it is acceptable for young children to have imaginary friends but it that is delusional for adults to believe they have robotic friends. However I will end on a note of caution. We don’t fully understand consciousness so we don’t fully understand what sort of entity is capable of holding beliefs and values. It follows we cannot categorically rule out a silicon machine becoming conscious. Perhaps also it might become possible to build some machine not entirely based on silicon which does become conscious. 

1. Immanuel Kant, 1785, Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals,
2.  Harry Frankfurt, 1988, The Importance of What We Care about, Cambridge University Press, page 83.