Prosthetic Soul Mates: Sex Robots as Media for Companionship

Sexbots (sex robots) are increasingly marketed as companions for lonely singles, including elderly people in care homes. They are also promoted (when switched into family friendly mode) to engage in everyday activities like picnics, family gatherings, family portraits and reading books to the children at night. Some promoters of sexbots promise that more than sex toys, their products can offer companionship and relationships that had previously been limited to human-to-human. This article looks beyond fears amplified by news media to see how robots are represented as mediators and embodiments of social ideals of companionship. Beginning with a social semiotic visual analysis of AITech’s promotional website for the sexbot Emma, we argue that rather than being a failed or problematic representation of human intimacy, Emma is portrayed as a non-human translation of a richer social relationship. She is certainly a commodity, and a gender stereotype, but also a media spectacle that has engendered fascination and even desire. She is a media platform for companionship, a toy, a body, an extension and a simulation, but is often visually represented in an impoverished form of companionship.