Sex robots could one day help failing marriages.
According to an economics professor at the University of British Columbia, the futuristic droids could improve marriages by making husbands and wives focus more on love and parenting, instead of sexual compatibility.
In a book called 'Robot Sex: Social and Ethical Implications,' professor Marina Adshade claims the advent of sex robots will change our societal norms around marriage, particularly when it comes to monogamy.
Adshade refers to this phenomenon as 'sex-bot induced social change' and compares it to the societal impacts of birth control when it was first commercialized.
'I predict their availability will give couples greater opportunity to define their own types of marriages,' Adshade explained.
'One example might be that more couples could choose "companionship marriages" that do not involve sex, but focus solely on the creation of a family.'
When early stage birth control was first introduced in the 1900s, experts at the time believed that it would lead to the dissolution of marriage, as men would be able to find sex elsewhere other than their wives.
By contrast, couples continued to marry, while attitudes around women's sexual behaviors and interests evolved.
'The practice of contraception led husbands and wives to the conviction that they need not be in the least ashamed of their desires for each other,' Social commentator Walter Lippmann said at the time, according to Slate.
Women were no longer assumed to be passive participants in sex with their partner; instead, they were allowed to admit they enjoyed intimacy with their husband.
Increasing contraceptive use also coincided with the rise of female economic independence. Again, many predicted this would result in fewer marriages.
However, a Pew Research study in 2012 found that 81 percent of 45-year-old men and 86 percent of 45-year-old women had been married at some point in their lifetime - meaning that marriage was still going strong.
Similarly, some believe that the rise of sexbots is likely to result in young adults choosing to remain single, due to their sexual needs being met by robots.
Adshade believes both single and married people will embrace sex robots, but that it will result in 'higher quality' marriages overall.
'I don't see sex robots as substitutes for human companionship but rather as complements to human companionship,' Adshade explained.
archive.fo