The Phenomenon of The Sex Robot Pandemic

The ability of robot sex dolls to physically and emotionally mimic real people—often idealized and over-sexualized women—to provide a satisfying intimacy experience is a key innovation and an important risk factor.

For example, developers looking to improve the user experience of sex robots can create machine learning algorithms to increase trust between human users and the robot. Trust certainly benefits intimacy. However, once developed, the technology could be used in sex robots and other forms to instill trust, possibly even against the interests of users.

Advanced machine learning could allow robots to develop love and affection, access personal information, or manipulate and influence behavior. All of these capabilities are theoretically possible, and perhaps more importantly, they could be lucrative for AI sex robots.

The global technology market is reportedly worth $30 billion, and the market could provide incentives for the development of artificial intelligence capabilities that may be more important than shiny realistic sex dolls .

Internet sex toys and sex robots not only increase traditional risks, but also introduce new cybersecurity risks that cannot be fully addressed under existing regulatory processes for other products. These risks include lax security measures that allow unauthorized parties to collect and store usage data or video, or the possibility of remote-controlled sex toys being hacked.

With the Teledildonics patent expiring in August 2018, the online linear toy industry is now gearing up for rapid expansion without consumer protections. The development of artificial intelligence in robotic love dolls could increase consumer exposure to existing traditional and cybersecurity risks of sex toys.