Forget economic downturn, a mushrooming of conflicts, great and small, as well as waves of third country nationals streaming towards the heart of Europe to flee war or simply in (an irregular) search a much better quality of life in the otherwise “austerity-rife” continent — as opposed to their strife-plagued lands and under-developed societies.
For some forward-thinking academics, one looming problem facing the Western world is … humanoid sex robots.
The “worry” is that societies have not prepared enough for the technological advances being recorded in the …robotic sex field!

Take Dr. Kathleen Richardson, a “robot anthropologist” and senior research fellow in the ethics of robotics at the UK’s De Montfort University, who with Swedish cognitive researcher Dr. Erik Billing, is spearheading an initiative to stop or “delay” the development of sex robots. The delay, according to the academics, would aim to ensure that the bots are “developed ethically”.
Nevertheless, as the BBC reports, there have already been thousands of pre-orders for what’s been billed as “the world’s first sex robot.”

Roxxxy is a human-sized, interactive sex robot developed by artificial intelligence engineer Douglas Hines through his New Jersey-based company, True Companion.

In development since 2010, Roxxxy is set to roll out to consumers later this year for about US $7,00 — though some are skeptical about whether or not this will happen given how advanced the technology behind the doll appears to be.

According to the company’s website, Roxxxy “can carry on a discussion and expresses her love to you. She can talk to you, listen to you and feel your touch.”

“We are not supplanting the wife or trying to replace a girlfriend. This is a solution for people who are between relationships or someone who has lost a spouse,” Hines told The BBC this week in response to the Campaign Against Sex Robots.