Turned On: The Rise of Sex Robots
Are we going to be swiping right on robots?
The porn industry is worth billions and its exponential growth – due to the proliferation of high-speed internet and a healthy dose of Viagra – shows no sign of slowing down. There is a race to develop realistic sexbots, who emerge from their packaging complete with perfectly warm silicone skin, and it’s only a matter of time before these robots are opening our doors and climbing into our beds.
How will the advent of sexbots change our relationship to sex and our relationships with each other? Will we program our robots to say no? To feel love and jealousy?
Join computer scientist and sex robot expert Kate Devlin for an intimate discussion about how technological advancements in robotics will affect gender, politics, sexuality and surveillance.
Chaired by Rob Brooks, Professor of Evolution at UNSW Sydney.
This event is presented by the UNSW Centre for Ideas and is a part of the UNSW Grand Challenge: Living with 21st Century Technology.
Access
The Roundhouse is located at UNSW Sydney's Kensington Campus, E6 on this map (PDF). You can be dropped off close to the Roundhouse north entrance (D5 on map). Vehicles need to arrive via High Street, Gate 2, follow the road to Third Avenue and turn onto 1st Ave West. The closest accessible parking is available in the Western Campus Car Park on Anzac Parade (G2 on map).
Auslan
The Centre for Ideas can provide Auslan interpreting services for selected talks upon request.
Contact
To discuss your access requirements and to book selected access services, please call the Centre for Ideas on 02 9385 1000 or email centreforideas@unsw.edu.au.
The Centre for Ideas is happy to receive phone calls via the National Relay Service. TTY users, phone 133 677, then ask for 02 9385 1000. Speak and Listen users, phone 1300 555 727 then ask for 02 9385 1000. Internet relay users, visit relayservice.gov.au, then ask for 02 9385 1000.
Kate Devlin
Kate Devlin is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Digital Humanities at King's College London. Having begun her career as an archaeologist before moving into computer science, Devlin’s research is in the fields of human computer interaction (HCI) and artificial intelligence (AI). She investigates how people interact with and react to technology in order to understand how emerging and future technologies will affect us and the society in which we live. Devlin has become a driving force in the field of intimacy and technology, running the UK's first sex tech hackathon in 2016. In short, she has become the face of sex robots – quite literally in the case of one miscaptioned tabloid photograph. She was probably the first person to say "sex robots" in the House of Lords – in an official capacity, at least. Her book on the subject, Turned On, was published in 2018.
Rob Brooks
Rob Brooks is Professor of Evolution at UNSW Sydney and a popular science author. He has spent his career understanding the complexities and conflicts that sex and reproduction bring to the lives of animals, including human animals. His popular writing explores the murky confluence of culture, economics and biology, and how new technologies interact with our evolved minds and bodies. He has won the Queensland Literary Award for Science (for his first book Sex, Genes and Rock ‘n’ Roll), and the Eureka Prize for Science Communication. His articles have been published in Psyche, CNN, The Atlantic, The Sydney Morning Herald, Areo, and many other publications. His latest book Artificial Intimacy: Virtual Friends, Digital Lovers, and Algorithmic Matchmakers considers what happens when new technology collides with our ancient ways of making friends, growing intimate, and falling in love.
