- If the plug doesn’t go in on the first attempt, try flipping it around. Hey, it works with USB drives.
Some kinds of sex bots are a common feature of science fiction. But it seems that a lot of people are ready for this particular carnal vision to become reality.
A recent survey by SexualAlpha asked 3,292 participants what they thought about the possibility of… Interfacing with a robot. Surprisingly, the results show that more people than you might think were comfortable with plugging in, so to say.
One of the study’s highlights is that more people would rather satisfy their one-off urges with a robot than with a human partner. Although most would still take the matter into their own hands, if you catch our drift.
That’s by no means all there was to the study, though. Let’s take a deeper dive into the results and see how many people are down for some beep-boop.
Would You Bang a Bot?
To kick things off, let’s look at that one-night stand situation. The survey asked the participants what they would rather do if they desired sexual activity without romantic attachments.
The responders were allowed to pick more than one option. To nobody’s surprise, good old-fashioned masturbation was the undisputed winner, with 49.2% picking this option.
In the second place, 42.5% said they’d prefer to use some kind of a sex toy to get their rocks off. But robots still got to the podium, since 37.5% said they’d like to use a sex robot.
This result is remarkable in the sense that it beat having casual sex with a one-night stand (30.2%). In the last place was hiring a sex worker, with only 21.1% opting for this option.
But perhaps the biggest shocker was the number of people who currently own a sex robot. About 15% of both men and women said they’ve had sex with a robot or currently own one.
‘Dirty Talk Interface: Engaged’
In another question, the participants were shown two pictures of sex robots, one modeled after a hunky man while the other represented a buxom woman. The survey then asked whether the participants would like to talk to or interact with one of these robots, and whether they’d like to have sex with one.
Wait, talk to a sex bot? Indeed — some sex robots now come with such advanced AIs that you can have basic conversations with them.
It seems that giving sex robots a level of machine intelligence might just be what people are looking for. A reasonable majority, 57%, said they’d like to have a chat with one of the robots. Meanwhile, about a half (50.1%) would’ve been willing to drop their pants and go to town with one (or both) of the bots.
Perhaps more surprisingly, 50.7% of the responders thought that humans could develop genuine romantic feelings towards a sex robot. Then again, that’s maybe not all that surprising — for example, Kazakh bodybuilder Yurii Tolochko married a sex doll.
Two People, One Robot
Of course, not everyone is willing to abandon the warmth of real flesh for synthetic skin. But a fairly large number would entertain the thought of bringing one into the bedroom to spice things up.
Having a threesome is one of, if not the most common sexual fantasy. However, introducing another human being into an established relationship could turn messy, in more ways than one.
But what about a robot? It’s not an actual human, so that should make things less awkward, right?
Surprisingly (at least to us), 40.9% of the respondents agree. They gave a positive response when asked whether they’d be interested in a threesome with a human partner and a robot.
Curiously, this number is higher than that of people willing to have sex with a robot alone. Maybe having another person present makes it feel less artificial.
That said, does it still count as a threesome if one-third of the participants are made of silicone, metal, and circuitry?
A Look to the Future
The survey also examined people’s attitudes towards sex robots when it comes to the wider society. Here we see some variation in how the responders view sex robots and their impact.
On the positive side, 52.2% of the surveyed people believe that — should sex robots become widespread — they would reduce cases of sexual assault. It’s possible since a sex bot would probably provide a more realistic sexual experience than your dominant hand.
At the same time, however, people are also concerned about sex robots’ potential negative influence. Case in point, 51.5% of the participants believe they would make the problem of objectification, particularly that of women, worse.
Finally, 45.9% think that walking, talking, AI-powered sex robots were likely to replace human sex workers in the future. It seems no industry is safe from mechanization.