News and Updates

JAMES NUNNS – CBR Computer Business Review – 20TH DECEMBER 2016

http://www.cbronline.com/news/internet-of-things/cognitive-computing/beware-rise-sex-bot-robots-exert-humans/

Revelations come from the second International Congress on Love and Sex Robots conference held at Goldsmith’s University.

BY TRACE WILLIAM COWEN – COMPLEX LIFE

DEC 20, 2016

http://uk.complex.com/life/2016/12/sex-bots-death-future

After this bullshit of a year, what’s next? According to Swiss researcher Oliver Bendel, a very real possibility for anyone hoping to fuck some robots is death by way of said fucking.

Was undenkbar klingt, ist auf der “Love and Sex with Robots”-Messe in London das zentrale Thema: Sex mit einem Roboter. Fürsprecher sind überzeugt, dass derartige Sex-Roboter gleich in mehrerer Hinsicht bereichernd wären.

Mensch & Maschine: Ein gutes Sex-Paar?

Die Fürsprecher der Sexmaschinen wie Roxxy glauben, dass sie dabei helfen könnten, Prostitution einzudämmen, Sex-Unterricht zu geben und sogar Therapien zu ermöglichen. Vor allem könnten die Roboter denjenigen Menschen ein Sexualleben ermöglichen, die bislang leer ausgehen, glaubt Kate Devlin. Die Hochschuldozentin für Computing an der Universität von London ist eine der Verantwortlichen hinter dem Kongress. Sie sagt: «Sexroboter müssen gar nicht aussehen wie Menschen, wir sind momentan nur darauf festgefahren.»

Doch es gibt auch Kritiker der Roboter-Liebe. Kathleen Richardson, Initiatorin der «Kampagne gegen Sexroboter», fordert einen Entwicklungsstopp. Sie befürchtet negative gesellschaftliche Folgen. «Es lässt die Idee zu, menschliche Beziehungen seien optional, und alle Bedürfnisse könnten von Maschinen gestillt werden. Aber das stimmt nicht. Man braucht andere Menschen», sagt sie. Außerdem könnte der Einsatz von Sex-Robotern dazu beitragen, dass Menschen, vor allem Frauen, noch stärker als ohnehin schon auf Objekte reduziert werden. Dauerhaft könnte das zu mehr Ungleichheit und zu Verlust von Empathie führen, fürchtet Richardson.

“Entwicklung wird kommen”

David Levy, Experte für Künstliche Intelligenz (KI) und Autor eines einschlägigen Buches, sieht Sexroboter nicht zwangsläufig als Ersatz für menschliche Liebesbeziehungen, eher als Alternative oder Ergänzung. Die Frage sei, ob eine Beziehung mit einem Roboter besser wäre als gar keine Beziehung. Technologie ist bereits integraler Bestandteil des alltäglichen Lebens und wird dominanter. Doch möchte man Sie auch in Roboterform im Bett haben?

Die Entwicklung von intelligenter künstlicher Sexualität bringt etliche – auch ethische und politische – Fragen mit sich. «Wir befinden uns in einem frühen Stadium, wir haben all diese Fragen, die wir noch nicht beantworten können», so Devlin. Ihre größte Sorge sei das Sammeln sehr persönlicher Daten. Das erfolgt heute schon teilweise bei Sexspielzeug und könnte beispielsweise für Versicherungen interessant sein.

Wie bei allen neuen Technologien zeige sich auch hier «das Auseinanderfallen kulturpessimistischer Positionen und den eher optimistisch-gelassenen Ansichten», bringt der Vorsitzende der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Sexualforschung (DGfS) Martin Dannecker die Problematik auf den Punkt. Die DGfS habe sich zum Phänomen noch keine Position erarbeitet.

Laut KI-Experte Levy ist die Entwicklung von Sexrobotern unaufhaltsam und bis spätestens 2050 Realität. Computing-Dozentin Devlin hält Sex mit Robotern für «eine Entwicklung, die kommen wird», daher sei es besser «frühzeitig einzusteigen, um sie mitzuformen», sagte sie in Bezug auf Produkte der Sex-Industrie. Wer weiß, welche Firmen nicht schon längst daran arbeiten.

Wenn es nach Devlin geht, soll es nicht nur um Sex, sondern auch um Liebe gehen. Vielleicht könnten die Maschinen der Zukunft irgendwann dank künstlicher Intelligenz sogar Gefühle und eine Art Bewusstsein ihrer selbst entwickeln. Auf die hypothetische Frage, ob sie ihre Tochter einen Roboter heiraten lassen würde, antwortet Devlin daher: «Ja warum nicht? Wenn es sie glücklich machen würde.»

The service has reportedly been knocking around university research labs for the last few years – and aims to let couple kiss each other through the internet.

It’s a brightly-coloured smartphone holster with an inviting plastic pad attached to the bottom.

You lock lips with the pad and it transmits the sensation through to an identical holster and an identical pad that’s nestling your partner’s phone wherever that may be.

“Kissing is the most direct and universal expression of intimacy and affection,” explained Emma Yann Zhang, who worked on the prototype.

“It’s a way for us to bond and maintain intimacy in our relationships,” she told an audience at the Love and Sex with Robots congress as Goldsmiths, University of London.

“Also, it’s stress reducing; when we engage in this kind of intimate physical touch, we have a lower level of blood pressure.”

The Kissenger works with pressure sensors and actuators that record and transmit the your kiss to the receiving device, which recreates it for the person on the other end through an app that also features videocalling.

The creators admit that there’s still a way to go when it comes to accurately creating a long-distance makeout session.

For starters, the pad isn’t mouth-shaped (although the actuators are lined like lips) and there’s no simulation for a tongue.

But the creators insist that it’s already helping to get people accustomed to machine-based touching.

And, moreover, that it’s not being used in an overtly sexual way.

December 21, 2016 2:53am

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/technology/robot-marriages-will-be-recognised-by-the-state-within-35-years-a-top-academic-has-claimed/news-story/3f7a08b96ffbf7395c1e210c903762e4

Following from the introduction of the first sex robots onto the market next year, owners will begin falling in love and look to take one down the aisle sooner than you think, Dr David Levy said.

The Sun reports that the best-selling author of Love and Sex with Robots claimed that politicians will have to change legislation to allow robots to wed as society begins to view artificially intelligent machines in a different way.

“As more and more people come to accept the concept of love and sex with robots, society as a whole will come to develop laws to govern human robot relationships,” he said.

“Restrictions that prevented Angela Vogel from obtaining a legal marriage license in Seattle will begin to fall by the wayside just as laws preventing interracial marriage did in the 1960s and same sex marriage during did in the past decade.”

And by the time there are no obstacles, the sex robots we are familiar with will become even more human-like and “kind, protecting and loving”.

But one major obstacle will be the Church, Dr Levy added.

“Religion is the reason to oppose same-sex marriage but not human-robot marriage,” he told a packed audience at the second ever Love and Sex with Robots conference in London on Tuesday.

And his comments have prompted backlash from Christians.

Priest Kara Slade, who was present as Dr David gave his speech, argued that “human relationships are not the same as chess computer programs”.

She added that Dr David Levy’s comments that “the bible does not say that you cannot marry humans” showed a total “misunderstanding of Christianity”.

But governments may actually consider the move.

In 2012 a woman was granted the right to marry a Mr. Corporate Person: a one-and-a-half-month-old business.

Seattle councillors later voided Angela Vogel’s marriage, but not before plenty of press attention.

Dr Levy said there are three requirements for robots to marry humans: consent, understanding and the capacity to make decisions — things he believes artificial intelligence is very close to.

And when it comes to divorce, the law will have to reflect that too.

The politicians and lawyers in robot law will have to deal with divorce, he said.

However, if you’re programming your own bot, it’s likely you can customise them to want you forever, he said.

Alexa Renee, KXTV 12:41 PM. PST December 20, 2016 – abc 10 (connect) A TEGNA Company

http://www.abc10.com/news/local/sex-robots-may-interfere-with-human-intimacy/373776125

There’s a new fleet of robots that may make you blush.

Sex bots are not just limited to science fiction films, love service robots are under discussion for human pleasure.

The Second International Congress on Love and Sex with Robots is happening Dec. 19 to Dec. 20 at Goldsmiths, University of London. The event gives the academic community a chance to present ideas and innovative work on human relationships with artificial partners.

This year, there are about 100 people in attendance including tech writers, sex writers, journalists, scientists and humanities scholars.

The event features sessions on topics such as intelligent electronic sex hardware, gender approaches to robots, and teledildonics, or internet-connected sex toys.

The congress aims to peer-review material that explores the relationships between human and robots on an intimate level, which involves human emotions and feelings such as love and sex.

However, humans having sex with robots could potentially break up some marriages.

A Swiss researcher at the event warned an audience about the possibility of robots being better at sex than real people, prompting humans to have less sex with one another, according to Gizmodo.

But the researcher also said robots don’t tire out like humans, so an intimate encounter with a robot may be physically exhausting to a human partner. Also, they are trying these kamagra from https://kamagrabestellen.shop. The researcher said that if this will suit the robot, the sex will feel more natural.

If robot sex isn’t already strange enough, consider robots are high-tech machines with the ability to absorb data according to Carman Fox.

A sex bot could potentially be capable of collecting very intimate data from its human partner. Having that knowledge mean a robot could store information about people and use it for seduction, according to the researcher.

It could be quite some time before sex bots become a household item, but there are entrepreneurs already working to make money off the love robots.

A business man named Bradley Charvet recently revealed his plans to open a fellatio cafe in Switzerland using robots as escorts, according to Inverse.

A 15-minute session and a cafe americano would set a customer back €60 or about $62.

Copyright 2016 KXTV

“Plug in to your phone and give your loved ones a kiss over the Internet.”

A gadget has been created to bring long-distance lovers even closer together – The Kissenger.

Created by Imagineering Lab, City University London, the attachment fits onto your smartphone and has a plastic pad that each user locks lips wth. The device then transmits the sensation to a paired holster with an identical pad.

“Kissing is the most direct and universal expression of intimacy and affection,” explained Emma Yann Zhang, who worked on the prototype. “It’s a way for us to bond and maintain intimacy in our relationships.” Zhang gave the presentation to an audience at the Love and Sex with Robots congress as Goldsmiths, University of London.

“Also, it’s stress reducing; when we engage in this kind of intimate physical touch, we have a lower level of blood pressure.”

The device’s Pressure sensors and actuators record and transmit your kiss to the receiving device, replicating the kiss to the recipient through an app. The app also features videocalling.

Whilst the device can accurately recreate the sensation of a quick kiss, long-distance makeout sessions are off the cards. The pad itself isn’t mouth-shaped and there is no simulation for a tongue.

Behind the creation of the device are David Cheok, Emma Yann Zhang, Yukihiro Morisawa nad Shogo Nishiguchi.

The creators also add that the device extends beyond a purely sexual function. “Parents can also use Kissenger to give their children a kiss on the cheek when they are away at work,” say its creators.

Zhang added that the next stage of the Kissenger will be to incorporate scent so you can experience the smell of the recipient of your smartphone enabled kiss.

Each year, the University of Adelaide recognises the achievements of its most outstanding alumni at the annual Distinguished Alumni Awards ceremony. Awards include; Distinguished Alumni Award, James McWha Award of Excellence, Honours Alumni University Medal, Postgraduate Alumni and the University Medal and Alumni Fellows.