Sex Slaves, Polls, and Ethics

In a recently concluded poll, we asked, “If you had a personal robot that could do only one thing, which ability would you prefer it to have?” Is the question itself unethical?

... Complete entry

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  12/03  at  03:23 AM

I concur fully with (rather than oppose, as mentioned in the article) the inclusion of 'sex slave' as a choice for the poll. What if the robots could be made with no consciousness of who they are, then they could be used for companionship by lonely single men? I dont think we are tripping on an ethical issue here if the robots have no sense of self-consciousness or identity.

Posted by Frank Glover  on  12/03  at  09:37 AM

Agreed. And examples in media (Six, the sex droid of 'Tripping the Rift,' the similar entity played by Jude Law in 'A.I.: Artificial Intelligence, Star Trek's Commander 'I have been programmed in multiple techniques' Data, and others) suggest that the interest already exists for such things.

It's perfectly valid to ask who would actually want it, if only to learn something about ourselves...

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  12/04  at  06:31 PM

What bothered me was not the inclusion of 'sex slave' as an option, but the fact that it was the only case that explicitly included ‘slave’. This would be considered an inexcusable methodological flaw if you meant for your poll to be taken seriously.

That said, I was rather surprised by the percentage of ‘sex slave’ respondents. I just hope it is because they were able to see beyond the rhetoric.

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  12/07  at  01:15 PM

And how many people answer this poll ?

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  12/08  at  12:42 AM

Almost 500 people gave answers on this one.

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  01/11  at  12:15 AM

Check out this article: World's first sex robot revealed at porn show - http://www.nzherald.co.nz/technology/news/article.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10619497#

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