Campaign Against Sex Robots aims to ban robots made for sexual use

Robots used purely for sexual gratification could contribute to the objectification of women and children and should be banned, according to the Campaign Against Sex Robots.

“The development of sex robots and the ideas to support their production show the immense horrors still present in the world of prostitution,” says a statement on the campaign’s website (via Wired). Such a relationship “is built on the ‘perceived’ inferiority of women and children and therefore justifies their use as sex objects,” according to the campaign.

Sex robots “are harmful and contribute to inequalities in society” says the campaign. “As humanoid robots become more widespread it is necessary to develop an engaged ethical response to the development of these new technologies.”

You can read the campaign’s paper on the issues surrounding the subject here.

The campaign wants to stimulate debate on the issues, and to encourage industry specialists to refuse to contribute to the development of these types of robots. It also wants to build alliances with campaigns against the sexual exploitation of humans and to create “a new and alternative voice to highlight the dangers of producing sex robots and the ideas behind them and how their production will impact on the real lives of women and children and men.”

Read more: 9 creepy ways robots are replacing humans

The campaign is led by Kathleen Richardson, a senior research fellow in the ethics of robotics at De Montfort University in Leicester, and Erik Brilling, an associate senior lecturer in informatics from the University of Skövde in Sweden.

The first sex robots equipped with artificial intelligence will launch later this year.