New sex robots with 'frigid' settings allow men to simulate rape

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It seems a new frontier has been reached in the fast-paced world of Artificial Intelligence, but as fast as technology is able to advance, it can still be reproached for moral retrogression.

This has been the subject of debate after the recent advertisement of ‘Roxxxy TrueCompanion’, a robot you can buy and simulate raping with a simple switch in setting.

One of the programmable personalities for the robot is ‘Frigid Farrah’, described as “reserved and shy” on the True Companion company website. Like ‘Wild Wendy’ and ‘S & M Susan’ whose characteristics are self-ascribed, the website says that for Frigid Farrah, if you touch her “in a private area, more than likely, she will not be to appreciative of your advance.”

In the website's description, the model lacks an attempt to reproduce consent in the real world and the company say that their robots “allow everyone to realise their most private sexual dreams."

Another programmed personality that has been heavily criticised is that of ‘Young Yoko’ who is described by the website as: “oh so young (barely 18) and waiting for you to teach her.”

Roxxxy is the 9th version of the company’s sex robots after they developed their first ‘Trudy’ in the 1990s and the trade in sex robots has already caught on. The New York Times reports that a California-based company ‘Abyss Creations’ annually ships up to 600 hyper-realistic sex dolls worldwide.

A new report from the Foundation for Responsible Robotics also warns of the numerous ethical implications in our sexual future with robots.

"We found that there were a bunch of companies making these and beginning to ship orders and we thought that we should really look at it," said co-author of the report and AI Professor Noel Sharkey addressing journalists on Tuesday.

A survey published by UK innovation company Nesta last June, found that over a quarter of young people surveyed would happily date a robot.

Prof Sharkey launched the Foundation 18 months ago in order to explore controversial areas such as the questions surrounding how robots can impact sex crimes.

"Some people say it's better they rape robots than rape real people. There are other people saying this would just encourage rapists more,” Prof Sharkey explained.

"Robots don't have any kind of emotion themselves. People bond with robots but it's very one way. You're loving an artefact that can't love you back and that's what's sad about it,” Prof Sharkey added.

Laura Bates, campaigner and founder of the Everyday Sexism Project, condemned the Frigid Farrah product in the New York Times writing: “rape is not an act of sexual passion. It is a violent crime.”

“We should no more be encouraging rapists to find a supposedly safe outlet for it than we should facilitate murderers by giving them realistic, blood-spurting dummies to stab,” Ms Bates added.

The True Companion robots raise the issue of the repercussions of normalising sexual crime. In Ms Bate's view, the company's products muddy and worsen the still much-misunderstood area of consent.

A representative from True Companion told The Independent: "We absolutely agree with Laura Bates...Roxxxy is simply not programmed to participate in a rape scenario and the fact that she is, is pure conjecture on the part of others."

"You would not immediately passionately kiss a person that you just met on your first date. Likewise, Frigid Farrah would also tell you that she just met you if you try to 'move' too quickly," the company's representative said.

"Rape simply isn't an interaction that Roxxxy supports, nor is it something that our customers are requesting," the representative added.

By contrast, Ms Bates wrote: “Their creators are selling far more than an inanimate sex aid. They are effectively reproducing real women, complete with everything, except autonomy."