Scientific conference discusses sex robots, intimacy in digital age

LONDON -- Sex robots – discuss. That is precisely what scientists and academics are doing at a British conference also covering all-too-modern issues like digital intimacy and older Facebook users.

The Human Choice & Computers conference in Manchester starting Wednesday is focusing on the “constantly evolving intimate relationships” between humans and technology​.

University of Oslo Professor Charles Ess says social robots​, such as mechanical dolls, “may well be able to offer good sex​​ on demand.” But adds that human virtues need to be cultivated “to avoid becoming identical with the machines that serve us.”

Kathleen Richardson from Britain’s De Monfort University, who heads a campaign against sex robots, told Sky News that using sex robots​ would “increase human isolation” as people try to meet their “complex needs” with inanimate objects.