Amerika

Transhumanists idealize the sexbot, a robot that can perform emotional and sexual care functions, much as they praise the future development of an artificial womb. In contrast to their Utopian ideals, these innovations will cause irreversible damage to whatever remnants of civilized society persist.

Problems will arise when a significant percentage of men (and women, because male sexbots will be in demand as well) stop striving to improve themselves. Why focus on being good, reliable, caring, and thoughtful when you can simply swipe that credit card and Amazon will deliver a sexbot-in-a-box within forty-eight hours? Sexbots are the ultimate “men going their own way”: they reduce the question of friendship, love, and family to what is essentially extended masturbation, which eliminates the need for connecting with the outside world at all.

One can imagine the individualist Utopia that will result. The ideal person will live in his or her own condominium, complete with a mini-gym. Drones will deliver food and an endless stream of consumer products to distract from the yawning emptiness within. This ideal person will work from home through their internet-connected computer, since all jobs will be simple automated functions. In one corner, propped up on his or her special chair, will be the sexbot who offers conversation, backrubs, companionship, sympathy, and sexual release. The sexbot will be a best friend, servant, and lover all in one handy package. There will never be a need to leave the house or improve oneself.

Feeling good should result from things that you have achieved which, in turn, are good for society. Like having a family. This is also why too much sex, masturbation, drink, and drugs is bad: it’s both fake and obstructs you from striving for actual achievement. You lose interest in real things when you replace them with imitations. Everything worth having takes mental, physical, and emotional dedication and discipline. Everything fake rejects those necessary parts of not just life, but maturation.

Your body is the fruiting body of your genome. A robot is artificially designed, with or without the best intentions, to create something akin to a golem, the robotic animated mannequins of Jewish folklore. It lacks a soul, and without that, it can never understand conception. Sex is psychological, like your soul. If one of them is perverted then so is the other.

When the objective becomes the process, you learn nothing, you do nothing, and will amount to virtually nothing. Constant self-improvement is critical to understanding the essence of reality. Your significant other, family, and friends need a reason to respect you. An A.I machine will not be capable of feeling, or recognizing respect (or any depth of understanding) like we do. What’s the point in loving, having sex with something that will remain ultimately indifferent towards you?

Artificial wombs present another grave ethical dilemma through the long-term effects of having an automaton replacement for women. What will happen when someone impregnates a robot, and the baby ends up being female? Will we genetically engineer sperm to bear only Y chromosomes? Who’s going to fund the research, production, and management of the tools necessary to only reproduce Y chromosomes? Will it be the tax payers? Individuals? Private interest groups?

The future invention of sex robots will create disillusionment, moral ambiguity, and total reformation of the already fragile foundation of civilized societies. We must consider the all possibilities in promoting a future where the process of new life is not organic. If we only look for some new gadget to buy, something fancy to cling onto, or fill the void in our lives, we cannot understand how to be truly happy.

Good feelings can be hard to get in touch with, and emotions get cramped up in the soup of black stuff we step in and drag onto the floor without noticing at first. Coming together, in union, and unlocking our great power is paramount for exactly that: it’s the toughest work possible, but also the most rewarding.

Tags: artificial intelligence, artificial wombs, sexbots, striving