The Ethics of Sex Robots

What, if anything, is wrong with having sex with a robot? For the sake of this chapter, we will assume that sexbots are ‘mere’ machines that are reliably identifiable as such, despite their human-like appearance and behaviour. Under these stipulations, sexbots themselves can no more be harmed, morally speaking, than your dishwasher. However, there may still be something wrong about the production, distribution, and use of such sexbots. In this chapter, we examine whether sex with robots is intrinsically or instrumentally wrong and critically assess different regulatory responses. They defend a harm reduction approach to sexbot regulation, analogous to the approach that has been considered in other areas, concerning, for example, drugs and sex work.