Yahoo Lifestyle 
Experts slam 'family-friendly' sex robots
It seems like common sense that you should keep your sex dolls and your family life separate, but the year is 2018, and the world is full of horrors.
Samantha, a sex robot whose personality is run by artificial intelligence that reacts to a person’s touch and voice, and can even say no if she’s not in the mood, went on sale last September.
She even comes with a ‘family mode’, in which she tones down her more suggestive lines.
Instead of asking you to get more sensual, Samantha can talk about animals, philosophy, or science, and is programmed with 1,000 jokes.
One sex robot owner, and a co-founder of the company that makes the robots, Synthea Amatus, appeared on the British TV show This Morning with Samantha around the the same time.
Arran Lee Wright, 36, caused a few viewers to raise their eyebrows when he told the hosts that he lets his kids play with the robot.
Arran has two children aged three and five, and his wife does not seem bothered by the inclusion of Samantha in the household.
“I am not worried she will replace me. She is just someone there like a family member,” she said.
But is having a sex robot, albeit a ‘family-friendly’ one, healthy in a household where young, impressionable children are growing and learning?
You’re probably saying, ‘Obviously not!’ and you’re correct.
According to Kathleen Richardson, who is a professor of ethics and culture of robots and AI at De Montfort University, and founder of the Campaign Against Sex Robots, it can be damaging to children.
“Children will imitate machines if brought up by them,” Kathleen told New Statesman.
“A daughter is going to grow up and think maybe this happened because Mummy wasn’t beautiful enough — am I? They’ll learn that women only have certain uses.
“Then they start to use that as a template for how they interact intimately with others — this is profoundly damaging.”
Dr Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, professor of psychology at Temple University in Philadelphia, agreed.
“It’s like the Barbie doll image, telling girls how they should look. If the culture gives you this image, what are you going do?” she told New Statesman.
“What a shame that, as they grow up, this is what they learn about their dad.”
While these dolls may help disabled, lonely, or elderly men, some experts warn that the use of them could desensitise people to the sexual exploitation of real humans.
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