AI and Sex Robots: An Examination of the Technologization of Sexuality By Keif Godbout-Kinney A Thesis Submitted to Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, Nova Scotia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Women and Gender Studies November 2020, Halifax, Nova Scotia Copyright Keif Godbout-Kinney, 2020 Approved: Dr. Michele Byers Supervisor Approved: Dr. Sailaja Krishnamurti Examiner Approved: Dr. Teresa Heffernan Second Reader Date: November, 2020 Godbout-Kinney 2 AI and Sex Robots: An Examination of the Technologization of Sexuality by Keif Godbout-Kinney Abstract The emergence of sex robots with rudimentary but slowly advancing AI is a relatively new phenomenon, and there is little understanding about what the possible implications of these automatons could be, particularly regarding their impact on human sexuality. Drawing on a number of media sources, this paper looks at AI and sex robots, specifically how they function as a means by which a certain kind of sexuality is constructed and maintained. The specific sources are the movies A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), Ex Machina (2014), and Blade Runner (2007), and the television adaptation of Westworld (2016). I look at this relationship of sexuality and technology and the ways it has shaped not only how each of these categories are viewed in relation to each other, but also the ways that they have had a direct impact on the development of social practices. Specifically, I am interested in the ways sex robots could be used to reinforce harmful gender stereotypes about women, and lead to sexual violence. This project aims to fill this gap in the literature around the topic of sex robots, with the approach being theoretical in nature due to the lack of empirical data on the subject. November, 2020 Table of Contents Chapter 1 – Introduction and Grounding ............................................................................ 4 Godbout-Kinney 3 Building a Frame ............................................................................................................. 4 Notes on Terminology, Language Usage, and Locating the Author ............................... 6 On the Relationship Between the Reality of the Robot and AI Industry: Fictions About Robots and Artificial ‘People’ ...................................................................................... 10 On the History of Sex Dolls: A Brief Overview ........................................................... 12 Theory and Methodology .............................................................................................. 14 Feminist Ontology and Genealogy: From the ‘Porn Wars’ to Post-Humanist Feminists/isms Engagement with AI ............................................................................ 18 On the Current State of Sex Robots in Industry ........................................................... 25 Chapter 2—Sex Robots in the Cultural Imaginary: A.I., Ex Machina, and Blade Runner31 “We’re not computers, Sebastian, we’re physical.” – Roy Batty to J. F. Sebastian, Blade Runner (Scott, 2007) ........................................................................................... 31 Debates Around the Implementation of Sex Robots: David Levy vs. Kathleen Richardson .................................................................................................................... 34 “You are a real boy. At least as real as I’ve ever made one”: An Analysis of A.I. Artificial Intelligence .................................................................................................... 42 “More Human Than Human Is Our Motto”: An Analysis of Blade Runner – The Final Cut ................................................................................................................................. 47 “Ava’s Body is a Good One”: An Analysis of Ex Machina .......................................... 53 “Fiery the angels fell. Deep thunder rolled round their shores. Burning with the fires of Orc.” – Roy Batty to Hannibal Chew, Blade Runner (Scott, 2007) ............................. 60 Chapter 3 – On the Ethics of Robotic “Rape” and “Murder” in the Television Adaptation of Westworld ..................................................................................................................... 62 On the Change in Theory: Feminist Engagements with Kant ...................................... 62 Welcome to the Park: A Brief Overview of Westworld ................................................. 68 Building a Mind: Rational vs. Emotional States in the Hosts ....................................... 70 On the Construction of the Hosts .................................................................................. 74 On the Role of Violence in Westworld .......................................................................... 76 Can Robots be Raped? Robotic Rape and its Repercussions in Westworld .................. 86 Conclusion – Not a Pyramid, but a Maze ..................................................................... 95 Chapter Four – Conclusion ............................................................................................... 97 References ....................................................................................................................... 102 Godbout-Kinney 4 Chapter 1 – Introduction and Grounding Building a Frame In recent years anxiety has mounted surrounding the question of robots and their place in society, partially because of the increasing ubiquity of robots and concern about how this will impact human relations (Richardson, 2015, p. 1). Kathleen Richardson, Professor of Ethics and Culture of Robots and AI at De Montfort University, and one of the founders of the Campaign Against Sex Robots, specifically terms this feeling “annihilation anxiety,” saying that, “annihilation anxieties are produced by an analytical position that rejects ontological separations, combined with radical anti-essentialism – when humans and nonhumans become comparable” (p. 5). It is easy for me to understand this form of anxiety when I think about how robots are being incorporated into society: thousands of construction jobs, for example, have been lost to automation on assembly lines; automated self-checkout lines have begun to replace cashiers; even surgeons are being replaced with robotic surrogates that are marketed as precise and reliable (Brown, 2012; Arntz, Gregory, & Zierahn, 2018). It seems that advances in technology are modifying many aspects of social, economic, and political life. What is the future of humanity in an increasingly automated present? When I imagine how robots will shape society, it is easy to conjure scenes of a technological utopia similar to what has been imagined in Star Trek (Roddenberry 1986, 1987), The Jetsons (Hana & Barbera 1962), or even The Expanse (Fergus, & Ostby, 2015), where technological advancement has untethered people from a wage, and freed them to work for the betterment of humanity. Technologies represented in science fiction texts can be tools to examine real-world social and political landscapes and technologies Godbout-Kinney 5 (Belsamo, 2000; Caine et al., 2016; Czarniawska, 2007; Freedman, 2013; Grebowicz & Merrick, 2013; Haraway, 2004; and Kara, 2013). The increasing ubiquity of automation and robotics has translated into a growing field of intellectual inquiry that questions the effects of technology on areas of social life, such as warfare (Danielson, 2011; Johansson, 2011; Pagallo, 2011; and Weiss, 2011) or sexuality (Levy, 2008; Richardson, 2016a, 2016b, 2016c; and Sharkey et al., 2018).1 The question of how advancing technology changes power dynamics and social structures is an engaging and vital topic and is where this research begins. I have been circling this topic in different forms since I began my MA work at Saint Mary’s University. Initially, I looked at science fiction literature and representations of gender, thinking about science fiction as a critique of contemporary social and political landscapes. Science fiction is a genre that allows for the examination of social inequalities vis-à-vis allegorical narratives. I intended to look at how Indigenous and Black science fiction writers create space to re-imagine futurities outside of the context of the settler-colonial state (Carrington, 2016; Hopkinson & Mehan, 2015; Valnes, 2017; Van Veen, 2013; and Womack, 2013), as well as looking at different ways that race, gender, and sexuality have been represented in science fiction. My interest was still clearly quite broad and vague at that point; I did not yet have a clear vision of what it was I specifically wanted to examine. It was at the Cyborg Futures Workshop, organized by Dr. Teresa Heffernan in April 2017, that I finally arrived at my present thesis topic. This workshop was a weekend-long exploration of the social, ethical, and political implications of artificial 1 Noel Sharkey is better known for his work campaigning to stop the rise of killer robots. See https://www.stopkillerrobots.org/media/ for more. Godbout-Kinney 6 intelligence and robotics. It brought together an interdisciplinary group of scholars to discuss a range of questions such as, “should robots be afforded ethical considerations” or “how can humans understand ourselves through the construction of artificial bodies”? One of the workshops, given by Dr. Kathleen Richardson, focused on sex robots and how they can negatively impact human-human relations in ways that perpetuate violence against women.