Don’t panic... sex robots may have a place in society after all

The news, last week, that sex robots may one day be rolled out in care homes to keep the elderly company was met with the predictable barrage of concern. A world in which animated dolls are universally used for the most intimate exchanges would indeed be terrifying and horrible. But we aren’t in that world. Nor will we be any time soon.

Sure, sex robots are on the rise. A consultation report penned by experts at Sheffield University found that two thirds of men and 30 per cent of women are in favour of them, while companies producing the ’bots are mushrooming.

And yes, some of the darkest and most criminal sexual urges are being built in to the robots – one Japanese company makes a doll for paedophiles.

So far, so grotesque. But unpleasant extremes needn’t define the norm, and anyway, Japanese doll bars have never had much to do with British sexuality.

Let’s also remember that since at least the late 19th-century, people have panicked about the relationship between humans and machines, while robots have been a staple of the dystopian imagination since the 1927 film Metropolis.

But the world still isn’t run by machines: May and Merkel may be robotic at times, but I’m fairly sure they’re still humans.

Above all, our panic is misplaced. I’m convinced that, given the option of a human lover, there is hardly anyone who would prefer a robot. People know perfectly well that a machine can never offer the thrill of being an object of real desire, nor the intoxication of a sexual encounter with someone you care about, and vice versa.

But not everyone has, or can have, a sexual partner – and this is particularly true of the elderly. Denying these people a chance at erotic pleasure seems mean, especially when based on unwarranted fears.