One in six people would have sex with a robot

A SURVEY on attitudes to technology and robotics has found that one in six British people would have sex with a robot, but an even higher percentage said they fear machines might ultimately pose a threat to humanity, The Times reports.

The survey quizzed people on their views about the future of technology and robots. Many expressed fear that they could end up losing their job to a robot, and as many as a third of respondents said that they thought robots might ultimately “spell the end of the human race”.

One question generated a particularly unexpected response. When asked about “sexbots”, 17 per cent of people said they would consider sleeping with a robot, while 29 per cent said they had no problem with machines being used in this way. 41 per cent of respondents said that they found the idea uncomfortable, and 14 per cent said that in their view robots should not be used for sex.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Some of the 2,000 respondents polled to coincide with the UK launch of the new JJ Abrams science fiction series Almost Human, said they thought some jobs might eventually be taken over by robots. 42 per cent of people said that in the future, teaching may be done by androids. Ten per cent said that one day there might be robotic police.

Martin Smith, Professor of Robotics at the University of Middlesex, who oversaw the survey, said that he doesn’t believe robots will have a negative impact on employment.

“Though many fear their jobs will be taken over by machines, it is more likely that robots will be used as assistants,” Smith said. “The future workforce could have the benefit of avoiding hazardous and repetitive tasks rather than suffer mass redundancies”.