Sex Robot Addiction: Clinics Braced For Humans Hooked on Cyborgs Like ‘Problem Drinkers’
(Link): Sex Robot Addiction: Clinics Braced For Humans Hooked on Cyborgs Like ‘Problem Drinkers’
by Joshua Nevett
SEX ROBOT addicts hooked on making love to hyper-realistic cyborgs to “escape from the self” are comparable to “problem drinkers”, according to a therapist.
The creation of artificially intelligent sex robots that resemble humans has provoked a heated debate about the social and health consequences.
Meanwhile, the market for talking and moving robots made for sexual pleasure is on the rise, with makers from across the world selling them for thousands of pounds.
One implication discussed by experts is their capacity to induce addiction to sex.
Psychological therapist Dr Thaddeus Birchard told Daily Star Online that life-like robots featuring AI could be another outlet for sex addicts to express their compulsion.
Dr Birchard, clinical director of the Marylebone Centre for Psychological Therapies, said a sex addict is comparable to an alcoholic in that they’re seeking escapism.
Although cyborgs might not necessarily increase sex addiction, Dr Birchard said, they serve the same purpose as alcohol for people with drinking issues.
“It would just be another way of expressing sexual activity or addiction,” Dr Birchard, author of Overcoming Sexual Addiction – A Self Help Guide, said.
“Sex addiction is a way to anaesthetise hard to bear feeling states.
“These include, but are not limited to, loneliness, shame, boredom, and stress.
“It has the same function as alcohol for problem drinkers.
“It is an escape from the self. This is the psychology behind it.”
Dr Birchard said of the estimated 1,000 men his clinic, in Marylebone, London, has treated, he is yet give therapy to anyone “who used robots and dolls”.
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