"I think sex robots could give people a sense of how to interact in some degree. For a lot of men who don't know how to talk to women... having a robot like this that can be an object of their affection...actually takes away some of the emotional labour that gets put on women to teach men how to be partners."
There is little doubt that sex robots are a contentious topic - on the one hand they are seen to objectify women and normalise alienation, but on the other hand sex robots could be a seen as a breath of fresh air in the commercial sex trade; they have the potential to allow certain individuals to form emotional connections as well as intimate sexual experiences.
Sex robots are also beginning to make an impact in the porn industry. A small number of adult videos featuring sex robots have been produced, and adult film workers have already spoken out about the impact of sex robots on porn.
Seen as the porn perspective is not explored in depth in the main documentary, 'THE PORN PERSPECTIVE' gives voice to adult workers who have their own views on sex robots, and how the future functionality of porn will be affected.
*The following audio files contain content of a sexual nature
Ela Darling
Ela Darling is an adult film actress who is also the co-founder of the virtual reality company VRTubexxx. Ela Darling has been one of the first porn stars to speak openly about her views of sex robots and how she thinks they will affect her industry.
Ela Darling's comments have been widely repeated throughout the media. She believes that "sex robots may fuel the porn industry as a tool for arousal before us." Despite this, during my conversations with Ela Darling, her views were expressed slightly differently. So could it be the case that sex robots put the jobs of adult performers like Ela Darling in jeopardy?
"Sex robots will not affect my job"
Although articles from the likes of The Sun suggest otherwise, Ela Darling does not believe that sex robots are going to put her job at risk. She believes that sex robots, whilst they could impact the future of porn, are more likely to remain a niche in the commercial sex trade and that the cost of creating and maintaining a sex robot far exceeds the cost of hiring an adult film performer.
Instead Ela Darling said that the real threat to the porn industry will be digital 3D renderings of porn stars:
There is more to a porn star than being just flesh
I proposed to Ela Darling the idea of sex robots replacing the job of an adult performer on screen. She said that as a society we have a tendency to shun a new sexual fetish.
Ela Darling stated that there is so much more to a porn star than being penetrated on screen, which is something that a sex robot cannot replace; "there's a very human aspect to what we do that is easy to overlook:"
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