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The AI sexbot industry is just getting started. It brings strange new questions – and risks.
(theconversation.com)
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
This tired old argument gets trotted out with every new technology and hobby. D&D, Video games, VR, etc etc.
While I agree that there's is always some sort of fear mongering with new tech as you said, I don't think they compare to what we're talking about. D&D is a tabletop game based on a magical world of various races, monsters, demons, etc. It's also obviously just a game.
Video games, especially violent ones that are vilified by the media, are still obviously just games played on a screen. VR is getting closer to "real life", but is still played on a headset, so there is still a divide between in-game and real life.
With sex bots, they are physical things that are made to look and act like real people. That separation between imagination and real-world isn't there anymore. For all intents and purposes, once the bot is on and functional it is as close to a real person as technology can create. Now, this tech is not yet a reality. But I foresee that future in the next few years.
Again, I point you towards video games and how they got blamed for violence. You could have used the same statement about them 20 years ago.