What we have so far:
1 – Ethically preoccupied economist [oxymoron if there ever was one] says robots can save marriages. Robot status: compliant human form dildo.
2 – I replied with a second article that said over 40% of regular folks who are coupled up buy into the robot idea. Robot status similar to above.
3 – A book makes the pychological case that you can love things, consequently, you can love a robot. Robot status: an attachment object to be treated with the same care as your computer or sports car with which you can also have sex with.
4 – I suggested that if the fears about autonomy in AI are to be believed, the robot will have it’s own thing to say about your sexual value. Robot status: non-compliant, autonomous agent.
5 – Zizek mentions some loony campaign to give sex robots rights, which he sensibly sees as a cover for moralizing about human behaviour. Then, he says expect surprises if the bot embodies human dispositions. Robot status: conflicted and consequently, potentially compliant agent.
6 – An “algorithm” finds at least two humans to be bots. Clearly, either a fake or a really lame algorithm. I’ll take the former based on the Sky News interview with good ole Ian. On the one hand, they try to nail him on the basis of “his” prodigious output. When he reveals himself to be a true flesh and blood, still vital curmudgeon, they drop the scare quotes and ask for the identity of his Russian minders. When it’s clear to anyone listening that no intelligence agency worth its salt would take this guy on — no offence to him, but obviously couldn’t possibly follow anybody’s line but his own — they ask him if he feels at all bad that he might be “inadvertently” helping the Russians. Whoa. This is some fallback. With neither shame nor irony, the host goes from the issues left hanging straight into a football story. Robot status: well, I have no issues with the kind of robot Ian is. The news host, on the other hand, is the kind of robot that gives humans a bad name.
I am impressed how people have so little difficulty with the idea of robots among us and the various roles we expect them to play. Really, this has to do with our self-understanding, or lack thereof, of our humanity, not to mention our place in the entire realm of being. The all too easy way people are prepared to outsource intimacy to an instrument is sadly telling.