In love with Machines: The bioethical debate about sexual automation

Main Article Content

Elen Cristina Carvalho Nascimento
Eugenio da Silva
Rodrigo Siqueira-Batista

A few companies around the world are now developing and selling sex robots. Questions such as “how will relationships with robots’ impact human relations in the future” emerge when technologies are used to meet the social and emotional needs of individuals. Considering that technology and design have embedded values and biases, this article surveys the use of sex robots from a bioethical perspective. Relationships with robots and computational systems, like Artificial Intelligence, are a possibility for many people around the world. We present questions raised by the voices in favor of robot sex, and against it.  Beyond a binary polarization, the bioethical perspective recalls the Foucaultian concepts of biopolitics and biopower to situate the problems with the mechanization of intimate relationships. We argue that sex robots offer the opportunity to review old patterns regarding gender, inequality, and health.

Keywords
Sexuality; bioethics; biopolitics; robotics; artificial intelligence.

Article Details

How to Cite
Carvalho Nascimento, Elen Cristina et al. “In love with Machines: The bioethical debate about sexual automation”. Revista de bioética y derecho, pp. 181-02, https://raco.cat/index.php/RevistaBioeticaDerecho/article/view/393847.
Author Biographies

Elen Cristina Carvalho Nascimento, University of California-Irvine (UCI, USA)

Research Visitor at University of California-Irvine (UCI, USA), P.h.D. (ABD) at Post Graduation Program of Bioethics, Applied Ethics and Public Health (PPGBIOS).

Eugenio da Silva, Laboratory of Computational Intelligence and Applied Robotics-LIRA

Eugenio da Silva. Adjunct Professor at UEZO (Laboratory of Computational Intelligence and Applied Robotics-LIRA), and UNIFESO (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil).

Rodrigo Siqueira-Batista, PPGBIOS/UFRJ (Brazil).

 Doctor of Science (FIOCRUZ, Brazil), Permanent Professor at PPGBIOS/UFRJ (Brazil).