Wouldn't You Know It, Having Sex With Robots Isn't Healthy

Enticing as the opportunity to get it on with a brand new sex robot may be, there's literally zero scientific evidence to suggest it's a good or healthy thing to do. According to a recently published, very comprehensive report in BMJ Sexual & Reproductive Health, there's nor research data on human-robot sexual relationships, and therefore doctors can't recommend this particular partnership.

Cheekily titled, "I, Sex Robot: The Health Implications of the Sex Robot Industry," the report is essentially a deep-dive into the world of robot sex data. Only the problem is sex robots are so newly available, there is no real data.

But that doesn't stop the pair of doctors behind the report from pondering what the implications of sex robots (or "sexbots" as they're called in the report) will be once they're a Regular Thing in society. Which, considering the enthusiasm for sex robots, is a real possibility.

One particularly interesting and useful idea presented by the report seems to directly respond to the recent, hair-brained proposition that sex robots may be useful for delivering sex to men that feel they deserve it.

"It is speculative whether the development of a sexbot marketplace will lead to lesser risk of violence and infections, or drive further exploitation of human sex workers," the researchers write. "Sexual violence survivors and activists already campaign against ‘rape culture’ the idea that (overwhelmingly) male violence is regarded as entitled and prosecution is so difficult that perpetrators of sexual abuse act with impunity."

Researchers also present concerns about what sexbots may do to the humans who interact with them. " It is at least plausible that sex robots will be helpful for patients who would benefit from sexual practice without pressure, although this might move some further away from human intimacy," the researchers write.

The overall consensus is: We gotta get some more data before we really know how sex robots either will or won't change sex As We Know It. The report makes the conclusion that any sex robot company advertising health benefits from their, uh, products is lying, because there's no data to support any claim that robots offer health benefits.

Does this feel insane to you? Am I a foolish romantic for clinging to a preference for sex with a real person, and not a robot? Is the future filled with robot-human babies, somehow?