Having spoken to a number of experts, it is clear that sex robot production is only in its infancy; technology needs to become more advanced and sophisticated until we start to see life-like sex robots sustaining intelligent conversations. Despite this, the industry is developing at a rapid pace with sex robots only increasing in popularity. Just this month it has been revealed that the "world's first consent-focused" sex robot brothel is in the crowd-funding stage, and is set to open in 2019, with customers being able to pay £10,000 to take the 'virginity' of a sex robot.
Whilst this project has endeavoured to explore in depth the ethics surrounding sex robots, the nature and controversy of the topic means that the door is wide open for more research into sex robots. Perhaps future journalistic exploits may benefit from exploring the psychology of objectophilia or even exploring the polarising topic of child sex robots.
In particular, I found Jerry Barnett's remarks on rape fantasy being normal to be of interest. A closer study into whether the use of sex robots affects the number of sexual assault incidents would be powerful.
Although I have learned a lot about the sex robot industry through navigating the surrounding ethical dilemmas, as of yet, there appears to be no definitive right or wrong answer to the question "should sex robots be banned?"
In our digital age the sex-tech industry is becoming more profitable and more advanced - so the prevalence of sex robots in society is inevitable. Now is the time to discuss what we want the future of sex in society to be.
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