"Just look at Roxxxy, a $3,000 talking sex robot that comes preloaded with six different girlfriend personalities, from Frigid Farrah to Young Yoko. On the one hand, it's hard to argue with the kind of desperate loneliness that would lead someone to buy a life-size plastic gadget with three "inputs." And yet, as Turkle argues, Roxxxy is emblematic of a larger danger, in which the prevalence of robots makes us unwilling to put in the work required by real human relationships. "Dependence on a robot presents itself as risk free," Turkle writes, "But when one becomes accustomed to 'companionship' without demands, life with people may seem overwhelming." A blind date can be a fraught proposition when there's a robot at home that knows exactly what we need. And all she needs is a power outlet."
Most studies have shown that despite fears, technology has not destroyed our social framework. Social networking actually appears to strengthen already existing relationships. It is a tool, not a menace. Indeed, even a sex robot is, to my mind, no different from regular old masturbation. I'm not convinced that a person with that kind of "desperate loneliness" would not still feel intense social anxiety if no such robot existed.
More concerning, and saddening, to me is that such desperate loneliness exists, that there is a market for $3,000 sex robots. I'm not going to try to offer any solutions, or claim that there even are solutions. I'm just going to feel bad, and be thankful that I don't have to experience that.
