Much has been written recently in mainstream media about sex robots. However, due to the recent developments in this area of robotic and AI technologies, few academics have critically addressed these humanoid sexual technologies through the frameworks provided by Feminist Technoscience Studies. Through utilizing this critical lens, this thesis works with the tools of becoming-with (Haraway 2004a) and intra-action (Barad 2003) to explore the ways in which sexual technologies manufactured by American company Abyss Creations are co-actors in complicated material-semiotic networks. In line with Haraway (2004a) and Barad (2003), this thesis argues that realities are made through ongoing material-discursive practices, practices which are intra-actions of desire, bacteria, companionship, synthetic cognitive algorithms, capitalism, app programing, Wikipedia, and robo-human becoming-with and becoming-without. It is through these webs of becoming-with and –without that these technologies exhibit relational agency. This thesis argues to view Abyss Creation’s sex robots in a framework of relational co-construction is to begin improving our understandings of the complicated ways in which humans, nonhumans, technology, systems, and forces are co-actors in techno-social networks.

The purpose of this thesis is to defend and prove, through four contexts and various arguments, the research standpoint which states that there should be a regulation of sex robots and the use of sex robots. The method used is an argumentation analysis which is used to analyze the arguments pro and contra sex robots and the use of the robotic device. Through a normative framework, the precautionary principle is applied, along with various Human Rights Conventions, as a ground in favor of the regulation. The concluding thoughts of the thesis show that the majority of arguments prove there being the possible risks of objectification, pedophilia, sexual assault, and rape, that sex robots expose women and children to, and therefore there should be a regulation of sex robots and the use of sex robots.

The advent of interactive and humanistic sex robots signifies a shift in the sex technology industry. Where objects such as sex dolls require an imagined personality, sex robots operate through artificial intelligence systems, allowing the user to communicate with the robot and shape its personality more directly. Even as stigmatization and fear revolve around the emergence of sex robots, the technology has implications for social robots and companion technologies. Discourse surrounding sex robots manifests across institutions with stakeholders attempting to guide the industry toward their vision of the future. The sex robot industry remains niche and its cultural impact is unclear; yet, social and legal regulations may have farther-reaching implications. This political-economic study examines how corporate (RealDoll), advocacy (Campaign Against Porn Robots and Prostasia Foundation), and government (local, state, national, and international) stakeholders envision the current and future standing of sex robots and their place in society. The analysis demonstrates the ways stakeholders draw on moral, capitalist, and androcentric language to celebrate or condemn the sex robot industry. This study’s data includes a critical discourse analysis of business and marketing materials, press releases and interviews, ownership details, and government legislation, a total of 442 artifacts. Through this examination, I argue that moralism and absolutism dominate the discourse, while the robots’ sexual functions obfuscate the ramifications of robotic artificial intelligence. Contextualized by broader discourses on technology and feminist inquiry, I additionally argue that sex robots are utilized as a focal point to debate broader issues of child abuse, rape and objectification, sexual privacy, and loneliness. Through ownership and lobbying facets, data reveals interconnections between stakeholder segments, indicating power and influence outside of the sex industry. In particular, Realbotix, the technological avenue of RealDoll, is attempting to expand its bespoke social robot offerings, the Campaign Against Porn Robots and Prostasia continue to lobby U.S. legislators to ban and reduce restrictions respectively, all while U.S. states implement restrictions on childlike sex robots without any regulatory advice on the AI privacy risks. I conclude the study with policy recommendations to clarify Supreme Court precedent and fortify consumer data protections. / Media & Communication

Machines encoded with artificial intelligence (AI) are increasingly having influence in human social realms. Rapid technological advances have propelled encounters between humans and embodied AI humanoids from a subject of science fiction to a real-world phenomenon. Thus, their embodiments are socially and culturally significant and pertinent for feminist investigation. In this thesis, I employ reflexive thematic analysis and a feminist theoretical perspective focused on affect and emotion to examine human and machine relationships in the context of gender, power, and society. The topic is explored using three different case studies that all focus on interactions between humans and feminised AI humanoids. The analysis shows that gender is a crucial factor in the humanisation of the AI embodiment. By playing on the idea that machines transcend their machinic status through designated purposes, creators appeal to ambivalence in human and machine encounters. As interactive AI and social robots continue to integrate into human social contexts, it is important to consider the underlying structures and social implications of their production and representation.