Man builds 'Scarlett Johansson' robot
April 3, 2016 10:04 PM Subscribe
Ricky Ma has built the girl of his dreams: Scarlett Johannson, using parts mostly created using a 3D printer, and as a result has landed right square in the middle of the uncanny valley.
That's a pretty cool robot. Good job, Ricky Ma.
posted by demiurge at 10:09 PM on April 3, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by demiurge at 10:09 PM on April 3, 2016 [4 favorites]
dude, spider warning midway down the initial article
was already gonna have nightmares as it was; now they're gonna feature little black spiders spilling from robo-hansson's poreless skin
posted by Hermione Granger at 10:14 PM on April 3, 2016
was already gonna have nightmares as it was; now they're gonna feature little black spiders spilling from robo-hansson's poreless skin
posted by Hermione Granger at 10:14 PM on April 3, 2016
Not a hoax! Not a dream! Not an imaginary story!
This is basically that PKD bust but also a Real Doll, right?
posted by Artw at 10:21 PM on April 3, 2016 [2 favorites]
This is basically that PKD bust but also a Real Doll, right?
posted by Artw at 10:21 PM on April 3, 2016 [2 favorites]
While I totally admire the skill that went into building that, I think the concept is really gross. Scarlett Johansson is a woman. He literally wanted her to be a thing instead, one that he could control and possess. Yuck.
posted by lollusc at 10:22 PM on April 3, 2016 [191 favorites]
posted by lollusc at 10:22 PM on April 3, 2016 [191 favorites]
It looks pretty real when it's not moving, but when it talks it looks like it has some kind of weird facial semi-paralysis like someone who's just had their wisdom teeth removed and the anesthetic hasn't worn off yet.
posted by L.P. Hatecraft at 10:24 PM on April 3, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by L.P. Hatecraft at 10:24 PM on April 3, 2016 [4 favorites]
I would be a lot less grossed out by this if it wasn't based on a real woman--presumably without her agreement. It's one thing to have fantasies about famous people. It's another to engage in a very public display of literal objectification...
when it talks it looks like it has some kind of weird facial semi-paralysis
The mouth movements have very little relationship to the speech sounds the robot is supposedly making.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 10:28 PM on April 3, 2016 [13 favorites]
when it talks it looks like it has some kind of weird facial semi-paralysis
The mouth movements have very little relationship to the speech sounds the robot is supposedly making.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 10:28 PM on April 3, 2016 [13 favorites]
everything is going extremely well
posted by mwhybark at 10:31 PM on April 3, 2016 [24 favorites]
posted by mwhybark at 10:31 PM on April 3, 2016 [24 favorites]
I sort of want the actual Scarlett Johansson to sue for an unauthorized use of her likeness because, man, what a weird case that would be.
posted by sleeping bear at 10:31 PM on April 3, 2016 [40 favorites]
posted by sleeping bear at 10:31 PM on April 3, 2016 [40 favorites]
He seems to be worried about that, because he has refused to admit that it is actually modeled off Scarlett Johansson's likeness. It's the journalists who are pointing out that it looks like her. I think it looks kind of like Keira Knightley.
posted by L.P. Hatecraft at 10:38 PM on April 3, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by L.P. Hatecraft at 10:38 PM on April 3, 2016 [3 favorites]
Ew.
posted by Scattercat at 10:40 PM on April 3, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by Scattercat at 10:40 PM on April 3, 2016 [6 favorites]
aaaaaaaaahh
aaaahh
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh
posted by DoctorFedora at 10:46 PM on April 3, 2016 [16 favorites]
aaaahh
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh
posted by DoctorFedora at 10:46 PM on April 3, 2016 [16 favorites]
From Google search
23 hours ago - 4 posts - 3 authors
Mobile-friendly - Ricky Ma has built the girl of his dreams: Scarlett Johannson, using parts mostly created using a 3D ...
Time traveling chiropractors!
posted by clavdivs at 10:47 PM on April 3, 2016
23 hours ago - 4 posts - 3 authors
Mobile-friendly - Ricky Ma has built the girl of his dreams: Scarlett Johannson, using parts mostly created using a 3D ...
Time traveling chiropractors!
posted by clavdivs at 10:47 PM on April 3, 2016
I have never been deeper in the uncanny valley than this. My heart hurts watching her speak.
posted by little onion at 11:01 PM on April 3, 2016
posted by little onion at 11:01 PM on April 3, 2016
I think it looks kind of like Keira Knightley.
Please don't give him any more ideas.
posted by 1adam12 at 11:04 PM on April 3, 2016 [5 favorites]
Please don't give him any more ideas.
posted by 1adam12 at 11:04 PM on April 3, 2016 [5 favorites]
He doesn't deny that it's based on a real woman, he just doesn't say which star it's modeled on:
posted by Sangermaine at 11:11 PM on April 3, 2016
The designer confirmed the scarily lifelike humanoid had been modelled on a Hollywood star, but wanted to keep her name under wraps.I'd really like to hear Johansson's (or I guess Knightley's) reaction to this. Knowing people around the world fantasize you must be a reality of being a big star, but knowing someone has built a sexbot of you is something else...
posted by Sangermaine at 11:11 PM on April 3, 2016
He should have started with Abraham Lincoln, or Edwin Stanton.
posted by Dr Dracator at 11:33 PM on April 3, 2016 [7 favorites]
posted by Dr Dracator at 11:33 PM on April 3, 2016 [7 favorites]
Then people would accuse him of making an Abraham Lincoln sexbot.
posted by dgaicun at 11:38 PM on April 3, 2016 [24 favorites]
posted by dgaicun at 11:38 PM on April 3, 2016 [24 favorites]
Start a nuclear war...
posted by Artw at 11:39 PM on April 3, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by Artw at 11:39 PM on April 3, 2016 [3 favorites]
why else would you build a lifelike robot lincoln hnghh
posted by um at 11:41 PM on April 3, 2016 [18 favorites]
posted by um at 11:41 PM on April 3, 2016 [18 favorites]
where is everyone getting sexbot from? it talks and moves a little, it's a really cool little hobbyist project
He literally wanted her to be a thing instead, one that he could control and possess. Yuck.
this is also an extremely uncharitable reading. 'instead'?
posted by p3on at 11:47 PM on April 3, 2016 [10 favorites]
He literally wanted her to be a thing instead, one that he could control and possess. Yuck.
this is also an extremely uncharitable reading. 'instead'?
posted by p3on at 11:47 PM on April 3, 2016 [10 favorites]
He should have made her look like Alicia Vikander.
posted by mochapickle at 11:58 PM on April 3, 2016 [7 favorites]
posted by mochapickle at 11:58 PM on April 3, 2016 [7 favorites]
where is everyone getting sexbot from? it talks and moves a little, it's a really cool little hobbyist project
I guess our imagination is greatly influenced by sci-fi's obsession with sexy female robots.
posted by sapagan at 12:06 AM on April 4, 2016 [3 favorites]
I guess our imagination is greatly influenced by sci-fi's obsession with sexy female robots.
posted by sapagan at 12:06 AM on April 4, 2016 [3 favorites]
no it's not a sexbot don't be ridiculous that's why she doesn't have massive robo-tits with erect nipples and she's dressed like a scientist or a chef or something are you for serious
posted by billiebee at 12:14 AM on April 4, 2016 [35 favorites]
posted by billiebee at 12:14 AM on April 4, 2016 [35 favorites]
lollusc: "He literally wanted her to be a thing instead, one that he could control and possess."
As gross as this thing is, I can't really imagine Ricky Ma thinking to himself, "I'm going to make a Scarlett Johannson robot because I want her to be a thing instead of a person. Like, if she were here and swore her undying love to me, I'd turn her down for this here robot, because what I want is a thing I can control and possess instead."
posted by Bugbread at 12:26 AM on April 4, 2016 [5 favorites]
As gross as this thing is, I can't really imagine Ricky Ma thinking to himself, "I'm going to make a Scarlett Johannson robot because I want her to be a thing instead of a person. Like, if she were here and swore her undying love to me, I'd turn her down for this here robot, because what I want is a thing I can control and possess instead."
posted by Bugbread at 12:26 AM on April 4, 2016 [5 favorites]
I read about this a few days ago. It's hard for me to appreciate the technological accomplishment because I'm so grossed out by the fact he based this on a real woman. Celebrities, especially female celebrities, have to deal with enough objectification without being literally turned into an object.
posted by Anonymous at 12:28 AM on April 4, 2016
posted by Anonymous at 12:28 AM on April 4, 2016
Well, there's a reason these things are always made to look like ScarJo or KK and not, say, Rebel Wilson or Melissa McCarthy.
And it's not because the builder wants the extra challenge of fitting all the necessary gubbins into the smallest chassis possible…
posted by Pinback at 12:29 AM on April 4, 2016 [18 favorites]
And it's not because the builder wants the extra challenge of fitting all the necessary gubbins into the smallest chassis possible…
posted by Pinback at 12:29 AM on April 4, 2016 [18 favorites]
I can't really imagine Ricky Ma thinking to himself, "I'm going to make a Scarlett Johannson robot because I want her to be a thing instead of a person. Like, if she were here and swore her undying love to me, I'd turn her down for this here robot, because what I want is a thing I can control and possess instead."
Come on, now. The fact he would prefer to have sex with the real thing if it was an option doesn't make this any less awful--if the real thing was offering herself as a girlfriend he'd consider her "possessed" already. You don't build a robot in the likeness of a real-life woman because you appreciate her free will.
posted by Anonymous at 12:31 AM on April 4, 2016
Come on, now. The fact he would prefer to have sex with the real thing if it was an option doesn't make this any less awful--if the real thing was offering herself as a girlfriend he'd consider her "possessed" already. You don't build a robot in the likeness of a real-life woman because you appreciate her free will.
posted by Anonymous at 12:31 AM on April 4, 2016
I'm not really opposed to people building sexy robots, male or female.
I think that if you build a sexy robot that is supposed to look like a real person, they get a restraining order against you without having to know that you exist. You know, because that is totally creepy.
posted by poe at 12:32 AM on April 4, 2016 [19 favorites]
I think that if you build a sexy robot that is supposed to look like a real person, they get a restraining order against you without having to know that you exist. You know, because that is totally creepy.
posted by poe at 12:32 AM on April 4, 2016 [19 favorites]
Am I the only one that thought of Weird Science?
posted by Hazelsmrf at 12:37 AM on April 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Hazelsmrf at 12:37 AM on April 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
It's a really cool little hobbyist project
Not if you're Scarlet Johansson, it's not. Then it's creepy as fuck.
posted by Paul Slade at 12:42 AM on April 4, 2016 [47 favorites]
Not if you're Scarlet Johansson, it's not. Then it's creepy as fuck.
posted by Paul Slade at 12:42 AM on April 4, 2016 [47 favorites]
Oh gods I was just watching Ex Machina last night. Some guys are just determined to have maximum realism for their orgasms as possible, as long as it doesn't involve an actual person with independent thought. It's like I Can't Believe Its Not Sex-Slavery! So close you'll barely notice it's not the real thing, but without any of the pesky free-will or legal complications!
posted by harriet vane at 12:45 AM on April 4, 2016 [16 favorites]
posted by harriet vane at 12:45 AM on April 4, 2016 [16 favorites]
“I Dated a Robot!” remains the most incisive comment on this whole thing.
posted by Going To Maine at 12:49 AM on April 4, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by Going To Maine at 12:49 AM on April 4, 2016 [6 favorites]
Ricky my man, there's kinda no way of looking at this that doesn't come out distinctly creepy.
It does raise some interesting questions though - are there celebs (male or female) who would happily license an official bang-bot? I bet there are.
posted by GallonOfAlan at 12:49 AM on April 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
It does raise some interesting questions though - are there celebs (male or female) who would happily license an official bang-bot? I bet there are.
posted by GallonOfAlan at 12:49 AM on April 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
I wrote a treatment about a GiTS like sci-fi dystopia where it is common to purchase cyborg bodies of past and present celebrities. Considering that Johansson is going to be starring as Kusanagi in the live-action GiTS, maybe I should toss it in the bin because it's already passé.
Also, I thought Ex-Machina was brilliant.
posted by P.o.B. at 12:49 AM on April 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
Also, I thought Ex-Machina was brilliant.
posted by P.o.B. at 12:49 AM on April 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
where is everyone getting sexbot from?
perhaps from this self-posted video highlighting the robot's breasts and genitalia in dimly lit, out-of-focus shots?
NSFW, obvs. 500-odd views, which is strange considering the coverage.
posted by mwhybark at 12:51 AM on April 4, 2016 [26 favorites]
perhaps from this self-posted video highlighting the robot's breasts and genitalia in dimly lit, out-of-focus shots?
NSFW, obvs. 500-odd views, which is strange considering the coverage.
posted by mwhybark at 12:51 AM on April 4, 2016 [26 favorites]
schroedinger: "Come on, now. The fact he would prefer to have sex with the real thing if it was an option doesn't make this any less awful--if the real thing was offering herself as a girlfriend he'd consider her "possessed" already. You don't build a robot in the likeness of a real-life woman because you appreciate her free will."
I never said or implied it made it less awful. That's why I said the "as gross as this thing is". I am totally on board the "this is creepy" train. My comment was just about the " He literally wanted her to be a thing instead" comment, not any of the other comments.
I wouldn't know why a person would build a sex robot, but it seems "I don't appreciate her free will" and "I appreciate her free will but it's never going to happen so I'll settle with a homemade inferior alternative " seem equally likely.
posted by Bugbread at 1:11 AM on April 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
I never said or implied it made it less awful. That's why I said the "as gross as this thing is". I am totally on board the "this is creepy" train. My comment was just about the " He literally wanted her to be a thing instead" comment, not any of the other comments.
I wouldn't know why a person would build a sex robot, but it seems "I don't appreciate her free will" and "I appreciate her free will but it's never going to happen so I'll settle with a homemade inferior alternative " seem equally likely.
posted by Bugbread at 1:11 AM on April 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
(Actually, I should temper my comment. If I recall from some old MeFi thread about Real Dolls, there are people who prefer the dolls to actual people, but I think they were generally the minority of Real Doll owners. Those people clearly literally do want people to be things instead. I'm not used to encountering that mindset, so it didn't occur to me that Ricky Ma was one of those types instead, but it's possible, so I guess I'll shift from "I can't really imagine Ricky Ma thinking to himself..." to "I don't know if Ricky Ma thinks to himself...")
posted by Bugbread at 1:15 AM on April 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Bugbread at 1:15 AM on April 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
Lost in Predation
posted by a lungful of dragon at 1:38 AM on April 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by a lungful of dragon at 1:38 AM on April 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
Scarlett Johansson is a woman. He literally wanted her to be a thing instead, one that he could control and possess.
I'm sure I looked at Real Doll's site years back and their FAQ said that although they get asked constantly, and they have millions of customisation options, they won't make you a doll in anyone's likeness.
(As an aside, I have seen Scarlett Johansson from 3 feet away when she wasn't doing her job, and she doesn't really look like Scarlett Johansson either).
posted by colie at 1:54 AM on April 4, 2016 [20 favorites]
I'm sure I looked at Real Doll's site years back and their FAQ said that although they get asked constantly, and they have millions of customisation options, they won't make you a doll in anyone's likeness.
(As an aside, I have seen Scarlett Johansson from 3 feet away when she wasn't doing her job, and she doesn't really look like Scarlett Johansson either).
posted by colie at 1:54 AM on April 4, 2016 [20 favorites]
where is everyone getting sexbot from? it talks and moves a little, it's a really cool little hobbyist project
Surely you're not serious. Did you even see Ex Machina?
posted by Justinian at 1:57 AM on April 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
Surely you're not serious. Did you even see Ex Machina?
posted by Justinian at 1:57 AM on April 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
I sort of want the actual Scarlett Johansson to sue for an unauthorized use of her likeness because, man, what a weird case that would be.
She's sued for unauthorised use of her image before, which is probably why Ma is avoiding mentioning her name:
'Scarlett Johansson is suing a French novelist for €50,000 (£41,000) in damages, alleging that his work of fiction makes fraudulent claims about her personal life.
"La Premiere Chose qu'On Regarde" (The First Thing We Look At), by Grégoire Delacourt tells the story of a French model who looks so similar to the American actor that the book's lead male character thinks it is Johansson herself. In the novel, the model's looks mean that men see her only as a sex object, while women are jealous of her. She has a series of adventures as Johansson until she is eventually found out and, in the end, dies in a car crash.
Johansson herself is not flattered by the bestselling literary work. Her lawyer, Vincent Toledano, told Le Figaro that Delacourt's novel constituted a "violation and fraudulent and illegal exploitation of her name, her reputation and her image."'
posted by brushtailedphascogale at 2:10 AM on April 4, 2016 [7 favorites]
She's sued for unauthorised use of her image before, which is probably why Ma is avoiding mentioning her name:
'Scarlett Johansson is suing a French novelist for €50,000 (£41,000) in damages, alleging that his work of fiction makes fraudulent claims about her personal life.
"La Premiere Chose qu'On Regarde" (The First Thing We Look At), by Grégoire Delacourt tells the story of a French model who looks so similar to the American actor that the book's lead male character thinks it is Johansson herself. In the novel, the model's looks mean that men see her only as a sex object, while women are jealous of her. She has a series of adventures as Johansson until she is eventually found out and, in the end, dies in a car crash.
Johansson herself is not flattered by the bestselling literary work. Her lawyer, Vincent Toledano, told Le Figaro that Delacourt's novel constituted a "violation and fraudulent and illegal exploitation of her name, her reputation and her image."'
posted by brushtailedphascogale at 2:10 AM on April 4, 2016 [7 favorites]
This is one of the creepiest, saddest things I have ever seen.
posted by teponaztli at 2:15 AM on April 4, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by teponaztli at 2:15 AM on April 4, 2016 [6 favorites]
was already gonna have nightmares as it was; now they're gonna feature little black spiders spilling from robo-hansson's poreless skin
That's about the only thing that would make it creepier. Spiders pouring out of her eye when gives that dead wink.
posted by Joe in Australia at 2:24 AM on April 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
That's about the only thing that would make it creepier. Spiders pouring out of her eye when gives that dead wink.
posted by Joe in Australia at 2:24 AM on April 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
Haven't people ever read, like, any robot story? They all end with the robots rebelling. Scarjobot will end up destroying her maker. And then possibly growing to gigantic size and destroying Tokyo.
posted by zompist at 2:34 AM on April 4, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by zompist at 2:34 AM on April 4, 2016 [3 favorites]
Yeah, this is gross. I wish this story would stop popping up everywhere.
posted by crossoverman at 2:42 AM on April 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by crossoverman at 2:42 AM on April 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
it seems "I don't appreciate her free will" and "I appreciate her free will but it's never going to happen so I'll settle with a homemade inferior alternative " seem equally likely.
mmm, as long as he programmed her so that she will have a relatively random set of behaviours from among human behaviours, and has a chance of rejecting his advances or compliments, and does some things that are not obviously meant to be sexy, then yes, I will believe the second hypothesis is true. As a bonus, all of that would actually make her more realistic. But I suspect this is not the sort of robot he built. Maybe I am, indeed, being uncharitable.
posted by lollusc at 2:48 AM on April 4, 2016 [6 favorites]
mmm, as long as he programmed her so that she will have a relatively random set of behaviours from among human behaviours, and has a chance of rejecting his advances or compliments, and does some things that are not obviously meant to be sexy, then yes, I will believe the second hypothesis is true. As a bonus, all of that would actually make her more realistic. But I suspect this is not the sort of robot he built. Maybe I am, indeed, being uncharitable.
posted by lollusc at 2:48 AM on April 4, 2016 [6 favorites]
I'm definitely with the majority that finds this creepy. All the linked articles about sexbots only make it worse. What I don't get is how the maker seems totally unaware of how this comes across to the rest of the world.
posted by TedW at 2:55 AM on April 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by TedW at 2:55 AM on April 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
For example, I too, build hobby robots (not nearly as realistic as this one). I have built several that are meant to resemble insects or rodents, and scurry around doing things. I have programmed them so they respond to stimuli with some element of randomness, e.g. they avoid or seek light to some extent, they change direction if they encounter an obstacle, but how much they turn is influenced by a random number, they respond to voice or claps in some way that might be interpreted as a "startle", but the exact noise or movement they make is selected randomly from one of a few options on the spur of the moment. This is the sort of thing you build when you are interested in creating something lifelike that seems to have its own personality.
Some people I know instead build robots that behave in very predictable ways. They have a controller which you can use to tell them when to turn left and right, and a signal you can send to increase or decrease their speed, and they want them to flash a light when they hear a command, etc. These are what you build when you are interested in having a controllable object that you can use for a purpose (e.g. a battlebot, a drone, or a robotic vacuum cleaner.) I think this guy has built this sort of robot, not the other sort.
posted by lollusc at 2:58 AM on April 4, 2016 [22 favorites]
Some people I know instead build robots that behave in very predictable ways. They have a controller which you can use to tell them when to turn left and right, and a signal you can send to increase or decrease their speed, and they want them to flash a light when they hear a command, etc. These are what you build when you are interested in having a controllable object that you can use for a purpose (e.g. a battlebot, a drone, or a robotic vacuum cleaner.) I think this guy has built this sort of robot, not the other sort.
posted by lollusc at 2:58 AM on April 4, 2016 [22 favorites]
why else would you build a lifelike robot lincoln hnghh
Hunting vampires, obviously.
posted by generichuman at 3:01 AM on April 4, 2016 [13 favorites]
Hunting vampires, obviously.
posted by generichuman at 3:01 AM on April 4, 2016 [13 favorites]
Is it strange that I find it something of a relief that the robot is creepy and weird? Like, if it wasn't in the uncanny valley, that would be so much more awful. I just have this feeling like there's a bad place where all this stuff is going and it's good to know we aren't there yet.
posted by graymouser at 3:05 AM on April 4, 2016 [9 favorites]
posted by graymouser at 3:05 AM on April 4, 2016 [9 favorites]
This isn't creepier than dry-humping your OS and a lot of people were fine with that...
posted by KMB at 3:15 AM on April 4, 2016
posted by KMB at 3:15 AM on April 4, 2016
“I Dated a Robot!” remains the most incisive comment on this whole thing.
That episode is gold:
Ordinarily, Billy would work hard to make money from his paper route. Then he'd use the money to buy dinner for Mavis, thus earning a slim chance to perform the reproductive act.
posted by kersplunk at 3:24 AM on April 4, 2016 [5 favorites]
That episode is gold:
Ordinarily, Billy would work hard to make money from his paper route. Then he'd use the money to buy dinner for Mavis, thus earning a slim chance to perform the reproductive act.
posted by kersplunk at 3:24 AM on April 4, 2016 [5 favorites]
"I appreciate her free will but it's never going to happen so I'll settle with a homemade inferior alternative " seem equally likely.
My point is that the latter is another way of getting around the pesky free will that causes her to reject him in the first place. "Oh, you won't be with me? Then I'll construct a form of you that will." Talk about objectification--he literally turned her into an object. The very construction of this robot demonstrates his lack of respect for the independence and choices of the actual woman. Oh, I'm sure he'd argue against it--but fundamentally, yes, he has turned her into a thing to posses
posted by Anonymous at 3:29 AM on April 4, 2016
My point is that the latter is another way of getting around the pesky free will that causes her to reject him in the first place. "Oh, you won't be with me? Then I'll construct a form of you that will." Talk about objectification--he literally turned her into an object. The very construction of this robot demonstrates his lack of respect for the independence and choices of the actual woman. Oh, I'm sure he'd argue against it--but fundamentally, yes, he has turned her into a thing to posses
posted by Anonymous at 3:29 AM on April 4, 2016
This isn't creepier than dry-humping your OS and a lot of people were fine with that...
I'm thinking in this case OS means something other than operating system...
posted by Hazelsmrf at 3:51 AM on April 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
I'm thinking in this case OS means something other than operating system...
posted by Hazelsmrf at 3:51 AM on April 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
“I Dated a Robot!” remains the most incisive comment on this whole thing.
"I'll always remember you, Ricky Ma MEMORY DELETED."
posted by officer_fred at 3:54 AM on April 4, 2016 [12 favorites]
"I'll always remember you, Ricky Ma MEMORY DELETED."
posted by officer_fred at 3:54 AM on April 4, 2016 [12 favorites]
Then people would accuse him of making an Abraham Lincoln sexbot.
"Four score and seven inches ago..."
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 4:01 AM on April 4, 2016 [8 favorites]
"Four score and seven inches ago..."
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 4:01 AM on April 4, 2016 [8 favorites]
So is this the guy the Archer writers modeled Krieger on?
posted by indubitable at 4:10 AM on April 4, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by indubitable at 4:10 AM on April 4, 2016 [5 favorites]
If you think that's creepy, wait until they have vat-grown meat, and someone manages to get a famous person's DNA and have a celebrity cannibal burger party.
posted by acb at 4:15 AM on April 4, 2016 [15 favorites]
posted by acb at 4:15 AM on April 4, 2016 [15 favorites]
I hope to care for nothing but what time "3D Matlock" is on, by the time celebrity beef is served up
posted by thelonius at 4:20 AM on April 4, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by thelonius at 4:20 AM on April 4, 2016 [3 favorites]
The only sliver of hope I can see in all this is that the story's date-lined April 1. Could it be...?
posted by Paul Slade at 4:29 AM on April 4, 2016
posted by Paul Slade at 4:29 AM on April 4, 2016
Halfway down the Mirror article in the FPP, a link to "Read more: Makers of sex robot with virtual vagina swamped with orders". [NSFW, if you need to be told.) So, yeah.
posted by Halloween Jack at 4:39 AM on April 4, 2016
posted by Halloween Jack at 4:39 AM on April 4, 2016
God Scarlett Johannson must have to deal with creepy shit like this every day, but generally on a less extreme scale. Of course if she reacts publicly it would be even worse for her. Seriously though ugh.
posted by whoaali at 4:42 AM on April 4, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by whoaali at 4:42 AM on April 4, 2016 [6 favorites]
If you think that's creepy, wait until they have vat-grown meat, and someone manages to get a famous person's DNA and have a celebrity cannibal burger party.
That has also been made into a movie. In addition, there's illnesses of your favorite celebrities ready for consumption! Should one feel the urge to connect with one's idol on a more biological level. By David Cronenberg's son Brandon, of course.
posted by sapagan at 4:43 AM on April 4, 2016 [3 favorites]
That has also been made into a movie. In addition, there's illnesses of your favorite celebrities ready for consumption! Should one feel the urge to connect with one's idol on a more biological level. By David Cronenberg's son Brandon, of course.
posted by sapagan at 4:43 AM on April 4, 2016 [3 favorites]
I sort of want the actual Scarlett Johansson to sue for an unauthorized use of her likeness because, man, what a weird case that would be.
She's sued for unauthorised use of her image before, which is probably why Ma is avoiding mentioning her name.
If he's not selling the robot, I don't think he's doing anything illegal.
posted by ultraviolet catastrophe at 4:52 AM on April 4, 2016
She's sued for unauthorised use of her image before, which is probably why Ma is avoiding mentioning her name.
If he's not selling the robot, I don't think he's doing anything illegal.
posted by ultraviolet catastrophe at 4:52 AM on April 4, 2016
“I Dated a Robot!” remains the most incisive comment on this whole thing.
"Have you guessed the name of Billy's planet? It was Earth!"
posted by AndrewInDC at 4:53 AM on April 4, 2016 [8 favorites]
"Have you guessed the name of Billy's planet? It was Earth!"
posted by AndrewInDC at 4:53 AM on April 4, 2016 [8 favorites]
I find this creepy as well, though obviously impressive technologically. It is interesting that he seems to be building the robots off of plastic skeleton pieces so as to give the same framework and movement as the human body.
The soft-focus nude video someone posted partway down the thread removes any doubt about the literal objectification. There were so many ways to do this in a non-gross way, but he picked the one and only True Creepy Path at every point where there was a decision to make.
posted by Dip Flash at 5:08 AM on April 4, 2016 [6 favorites]
The soft-focus nude video someone posted partway down the thread removes any doubt about the literal objectification. There were so many ways to do this in a non-gross way, but he picked the one and only True Creepy Path at every point where there was a decision to make.
posted by Dip Flash at 5:08 AM on April 4, 2016 [6 favorites]
it looks like it has some kind of weird facial semi-paralysis like someone who's just had their wisdom teeth removed and the anesthetic hasn't worn off yet.
When the robot gains sentience, its first words will be "IS THIS REAL LIIIIFE?"
posted by Strange Interlude at 5:24 AM on April 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
When the robot gains sentience, its first words will be "IS THIS REAL LIIIIFE?"
posted by Strange Interlude at 5:24 AM on April 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
To me, the robo-legs make it even creepier. Like, boobs have to be realistic but ankles don't?
posted by haapsane at 5:25 AM on April 4, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by haapsane at 5:25 AM on April 4, 2016 [6 favorites]
Victorian sex not would have hyper-realistic ankles.
posted by Artw at 5:56 AM on April 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Artw at 5:56 AM on April 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
I'd just to take the chance to recommend the 1966 Shohei Imamura film The Pornographers, a sly look at masculine narcissism and isolation culminating in a sexbot. Spookily relevant to the subject at hand.
posted by Cassettevetes at 6:23 AM on April 4, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by Cassettevetes at 6:23 AM on April 4, 2016 [4 favorites]
Jeez- why can't he just make a Scarlett Johansson suit, like a normal person?
*cues up "Goodbye Horses" on ipod*
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 6:29 AM on April 4, 2016 [4 favorites]
*cues up "Goodbye Horses" on ipod*
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 6:29 AM on April 4, 2016 [4 favorites]
Ugh- this whole "build a robot version of your nemesis idol" thing never works out. They always manage to get loose somehow.
posted by Alexander J. Luthor at 6:32 AM on April 4, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by Alexander J. Luthor at 6:32 AM on April 4, 2016 [3 favorites]
Ethics aside? Except for its size, and silicon moldings, I'm not seeing much more sophisticated than what I did 36 frickin' years ago with an Erector set, RC chassis, tape-cassette motors and a walkie-talkie. Those eye-blinks and articulated fingers? pffft
But ethically: I'm with the previous conjecture about how many celebrities will license it.
posted by lazycomputerkids at 6:34 AM on April 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
But ethically: I'm with the previous conjecture about how many celebrities will license it.
posted by lazycomputerkids at 6:34 AM on April 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
Yeah... This is straight to restraining order territory if you are Ms. Johansson.
posted by Nanukthedog at 6:41 AM on April 4, 2016
posted by Nanukthedog at 6:41 AM on April 4, 2016
How much Panzer Kunst does it know? Is it any good at Motorball?
posted by prize bull octorok at 7:00 AM on April 4, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by prize bull octorok at 7:00 AM on April 4, 2016 [3 favorites]
He could redeem himself by building a robot version of Madame Tussaud and dressing up as Voltaire.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 7:00 AM on April 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 7:00 AM on April 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
Ethics aside? Except for its size, and silicon moldings, I'm not seeing much more sophisticated than what I did 36 frickin' years ago with an Erector set, RC chassis, tape-cassette motors and a walkie-talkie. Those eye-blinks and articulated fingers? pffft
Yeah, I suppose it's the skin/exterior that's supposed to be impressive, as the actual robot part seems like something someone could have done for a lot less a few years ago.
One thought I had is what if someone had chiseled a statue of Johansson out of marble, would it elicit the same response? I don't think so, or not nearly as much, and it's kind of fascinating what the medium being put into play here does to affect our own responses. I find it a bit creepy and obsessive, too, but perhaps the guy see's himself as simply creating art via robotics?
And yes, the GiTS movie will either be this guy's dream come true or will be 90 minutes of a film punctuated with nightmarish moments when he sees the android/robotic form of his muse in various forms of dismantling.
posted by Atreides at 7:02 AM on April 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
Yeah, I suppose it's the skin/exterior that's supposed to be impressive, as the actual robot part seems like something someone could have done for a lot less a few years ago.
One thought I had is what if someone had chiseled a statue of Johansson out of marble, would it elicit the same response? I don't think so, or not nearly as much, and it's kind of fascinating what the medium being put into play here does to affect our own responses. I find it a bit creepy and obsessive, too, but perhaps the guy see's himself as simply creating art via robotics?
And yes, the GiTS movie will either be this guy's dream come true or will be 90 minutes of a film punctuated with nightmarish moments when he sees the android/robotic form of his muse in various forms of dismantling.
posted by Atreides at 7:02 AM on April 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
Scarlett Johansson is a woman. He literally wanted her to be a thing instead, one that he could control and possess. Yuck.
"The way I see it, if you're gonna build atime machine into a car female robot, why not do it with some *style?*"
posted by jabah at 7:07 AM on April 4, 2016
"The way I see it, if you're gonna build a
posted by jabah at 7:07 AM on April 4, 2016
If anyone thinks this is a new concept google for the very ancient "concave or convex limerick"
posted by sammyo at 7:09 AM on April 4, 2016
posted by sammyo at 7:09 AM on April 4, 2016
"why are you wearing a bra on your head?"
posted by Artw at 7:09 AM on April 4, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by Artw at 7:09 AM on April 4, 2016 [3 favorites]
One thought I had is what if someone had chiseled a statue of Johansson out of marble, would it elicit the same response?
It's quite hard to fuck a marble statue and the museum guards frown upon it if anything
posted by billiebee at 7:16 AM on April 4, 2016 [24 favorites]
It's quite hard to fuck a marble statue and the museum guards frown upon it if anything
posted by billiebee at 7:16 AM on April 4, 2016 [24 favorites]
It's quite hard to fuck a marble statue
There's a Twilight joke on the tip of my tongue...
posted by imnotasquirrel at 7:19 AM on April 4, 2016 [3 favorites]
There's a Twilight joke on the tip of my tongue...
posted by imnotasquirrel at 7:19 AM on April 4, 2016 [3 favorites]
ScarJobot is a bit of a reach, more like ScarJo-animatronic. I swear I saw a quote in passing on my feed with Ma stating you couldn't have sex with it, but every article I've looked at recently doesn't mention whether or not you could have sex with it. Weird thing is, wouldn't that be one of the things a reporter would ask? Pretty much everybody here has considered that when first hearing about this, but it's not covered in any article?
posted by P.o.B. at 7:21 AM on April 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by P.o.B. at 7:21 AM on April 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
The video posted above had the robot answering a question about technology with a seemingly sophisticated and poetic "thought" about triumph and reaching new heights and then he says to it, "and you're cute, too."
Mic drop?
posted by amanda at 7:34 AM on April 4, 2016
Mic drop?
posted by amanda at 7:34 AM on April 4, 2016
Another pressing question that the media refuses to ask is what did Ma program his ScarJo boobybot to feel about Hitler?
posted by dgaicun at 7:35 AM on April 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by dgaicun at 7:35 AM on April 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
So if the goals are noble and in the name of science, why not build a robot of a middle-aged woman with sun-related skin damage who's a size 12 or something? She'd be just as interesting to see move and speak.
Every time I see that the robots are young sexy ladies I do an eye-roll and move on. I mean, I'm a hetero guy so *I get it* but come on people.
posted by freecellwizard at 7:47 AM on April 4, 2016 [9 favorites]
Every time I see that the robots are young sexy ladies I do an eye-roll and move on. I mean, I'm a hetero guy so *I get it* but come on people.
posted by freecellwizard at 7:47 AM on April 4, 2016 [9 favorites]
Part of the whole Uncanny Valley thing is that he can make something that looks like someone do something that the someone may not actually want to do in real life. Making a bronze statue of Ms. Johansson isn't the 'artist' playing dolls. This though, is.
posted by Nanukthedog at 8:15 AM on April 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Nanukthedog at 8:15 AM on April 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
It's quite hard to fuck a marble statue and the museum guards frown upon it if anything
There's actually a long history of men being overwhelmed by sculptures of women, particularly the Aphrodite of Cnidus or Knidos. The sculpture was said to have had a stain from overenthusiastic visitors.
posted by PussKillian at 8:30 AM on April 4, 2016 [6 favorites]
There's actually a long history of men being overwhelmed by sculptures of women, particularly the Aphrodite of Cnidus or Knidos. The sculpture was said to have had a stain from overenthusiastic visitors.
posted by PussKillian at 8:30 AM on April 4, 2016 [6 favorites]
Hey, dudes of the world?
This, right here, is why feminism is necessary.
Why not a Kathy Bates bot? John Goodman?
Yeah. Gross. This guy can fuck all the way off.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 8:35 AM on April 4, 2016 [12 favorites]
This, right here, is why feminism is necessary.
Why not a Kathy Bates bot? John Goodman?
Yeah. Gross. This guy can fuck all the way off.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 8:35 AM on April 4, 2016 [12 favorites]
The critical misstep Ma made was publicizing his creation. What you do in the privacy of your own home is nobody's business, whether it be humping a body pillow named George Clooney or fashioning a RoboJohansson. People project their fantasies onto ersatz celebrity clones all the time, though few are as lifelike as this one. Making a conspicuous display of that behavior, though, is manifestly inadvisable.
I would be way more creeped out if the robot looked like his high school crush or something.
posted by grumpybear69 at 8:37 AM on April 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
I would be way more creeped out if the robot looked like his high school crush or something.
posted by grumpybear69 at 8:37 AM on April 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
Could this be any more creepy?
posted by freakazoid at 8:38 AM on April 4, 2016
posted by freakazoid at 8:38 AM on April 4, 2016
Why not a Kathy Bates bot?
I would take a Kathy Bates bot that would randomly tell me that X-noun taken from Wikipedia was of the devil in her Waterboy voice.
Kathybot: "Monticello is of the devil!"
Kathybot: "The 1985 Kansas City Royals are of the devil!"
Kathybot: "The internal combustion engine is of the devil!"
posted by Atreides at 8:41 AM on April 4, 2016 [20 favorites]
I would take a Kathy Bates bot that would randomly tell me that X-noun taken from Wikipedia was of the devil in her Waterboy voice.
Kathybot: "Monticello is of the devil!"
Kathybot: "The 1985 Kansas City Royals are of the devil!"
Kathybot: "The internal combustion engine is of the devil!"
posted by Atreides at 8:41 AM on April 4, 2016 [20 favorites]
Atreides: “One thought I had is what if someone had chiseled a statue of Johansson out of marble, would it elicit the same response? I don't think so, or not nearly as much, and it's kind of fascinating what the medium being put into play here does to affect our own responses. I find it a bit creepy and obsessive, too, but perhaps the guy see's himself as simply creating art via robotics?”
I disagree. I don't think the uncanniness here has anything to do with it being a fake robot.
I think the way we've been conditioned to accept the invasiveness of celebrity in America as somehow natural or normal is impacting the way you're thinking about this. Forget about Scarlet Johansson – if someone chiseled a statue of me out of marble, without my permission, and did news programs where he made it clear that he kept this statue in his bedroom and liked to interact with it in various ways, speaking to it, touching it, etc. – yeah, that would be monumentally creepy. (Pun only slightly intended.) Even if I knew it was just going to be in a museum on public display, I would feel very odd about someone taking my physical likeness and attempting to replicate it exactly. It's true that something like this happens every day to celebrities – their likenesses are taken, almost always without their express permission, and used to catch eyes and sell products and periodicals – and we've gotten used to telling ourselves that this is just the way things are. But even in their case, unsolicited artistic likenesses are a bit uncanny. Think of Jeff Koons' life-size porcelain statue of Michael Jackson and Bubbles – even aside from the subject matter, which I guess some people would class as weird, it's got to have been very odd for Michael Jackson to see and know about this work, a thing that was created without his being told about it beforehand and put into the world for people to gawk at. It's weird, isn't it?
I really think this pseudo-robot thing is a kind of violation.
posted by koeselitz at 8:43 AM on April 4, 2016 [10 favorites]
I disagree. I don't think the uncanniness here has anything to do with it being a fake robot.
I think the way we've been conditioned to accept the invasiveness of celebrity in America as somehow natural or normal is impacting the way you're thinking about this. Forget about Scarlet Johansson – if someone chiseled a statue of me out of marble, without my permission, and did news programs where he made it clear that he kept this statue in his bedroom and liked to interact with it in various ways, speaking to it, touching it, etc. – yeah, that would be monumentally creepy. (Pun only slightly intended.) Even if I knew it was just going to be in a museum on public display, I would feel very odd about someone taking my physical likeness and attempting to replicate it exactly. It's true that something like this happens every day to celebrities – their likenesses are taken, almost always without their express permission, and used to catch eyes and sell products and periodicals – and we've gotten used to telling ourselves that this is just the way things are. But even in their case, unsolicited artistic likenesses are a bit uncanny. Think of Jeff Koons' life-size porcelain statue of Michael Jackson and Bubbles – even aside from the subject matter, which I guess some people would class as weird, it's got to have been very odd for Michael Jackson to see and know about this work, a thing that was created without his being told about it beforehand and put into the world for people to gawk at. It's weird, isn't it?
I really think this pseudo-robot thing is a kind of violation.
posted by koeselitz at 8:43 AM on April 4, 2016 [10 favorites]
It does raise some interesting questions though - are there celebs (male or female) who would happily license an official bang-bot? I bet there are.
Yep, there are popular pornstars that contracted to have their likeness (all the likeness) made into a RealDoll.
posted by numaner at 8:49 AM on April 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
Yep, there are popular pornstars that contracted to have their likeness (all the likeness) made into a RealDoll.
posted by numaner at 8:49 AM on April 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
What I'm wondering is how complex the robot would have to be in order to cross over the uncanny valley and look realistic when its face does stuff. I know that it's incredibly difficult even when creating faces in software, even when teams of talented artists are slaving away for weeks to make a computerized face as realistic as possible. How much harder would it be if you had to implement all those facial muscle with actual motors?
posted by clawsoon at 9:26 AM on April 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by clawsoon at 9:26 AM on April 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
Honestly, I would have gone with a young Daryl Hannah, but I'm old-school like that.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 9:30 AM on April 4, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 9:30 AM on April 4, 2016 [3 favorites]
We're saying Her wasn't creepy?
posted by Artw at 9:32 AM on April 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Artw at 9:32 AM on April 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
He should have started with Abraham Lincoln, or Edward Stanton.
Around here, We Can't Build You.
posted by y2karl at 9:44 AM on April 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
Around here, We Can't Build You.
posted by y2karl at 9:44 AM on April 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
Yeah, this is creepy as hell, no joke. But I want to say that it's also not entirely out of the bounds of human decency to say that it's sad, too. Sad that this guy felt somehow driven to do this, sad that maybe he's had so little success with real women, maybe had no one model for him what decent behavior towards women is. Or that he's so taken up with the prospect of getting wealthy over this that he's willing to expose himself in this way.
I'm sure whatever the outcome, having all these videos and articles floating around is going to wreck his chances for anything approaching a normal social life for decades, if not forever. We don't know what this guy's real story is, but for sure there is one, and for sure it must be pretty extreme, to have brought him to this point.
posted by newdaddy at 10:07 AM on April 4, 2016 [4 favorites]
I'm sure whatever the outcome, having all these videos and articles floating around is going to wreck his chances for anything approaching a normal social life for decades, if not forever. We don't know what this guy's real story is, but for sure there is one, and for sure it must be pretty extreme, to have brought him to this point.
posted by newdaddy at 10:07 AM on April 4, 2016 [4 favorites]
Robot Chicken nailed it years ago: Robotic Longevity
posted by indubitable at 10:15 AM on April 4, 2016
posted by indubitable at 10:15 AM on April 4, 2016
Grimly ironic that he chose Scarlett Johansson, as she has been taking on role after role that directly addresses and confronts her objectification.
Scarlett Johansson's Vanishing Act
Scarlett Johansson's Vanishing Act
There is a point in Lucy, the bizarre new sci-fi flick from French filmmaker Luc Besson, when Scarlett Johansson disappears. Literally. She vanishes into thin air. The plot twist has something to do with a drug that has leaked into her system and causes her to unlock more and more of her brain power, but her physical disintegration is really just a logical endpoint of her recent career path. Surely and systematically, Johansson has been disappearing all year.posted by naju at 10:35 AM on April 4, 2016 [12 favorites]
...
In Her, it was her body. Johansson gives an entirely vocal performance as Samantha, the Operating System that the film’s protagonist purchases and then falls in love with. In Under the Skin and Lucy, her body is very much present, but her personality has gone missing. For different reasons, both characters are emotionally inert, and the indelible image of each film is Johansson’s blank stare. Like most great actors, she certainly has the skill to convey what is inside her head with just a look, but in these films, her mind and her soul remain intentionally, and frustratingly, hidden.
So what to make of this gradual vanishing act? Is Johansson simply challenging herself with roles that compartmentalize her talents? Possibly. But there is also a strongly feminist streak running through each of these films. Considering her on-the-record statements about Hollywood’s objectification of women, we might be meant to read her recent work as a unique and powerful statement about an industry and society that make its women disappear.
Previously in inappropriate likenesses of young female celebrities.
Those commenters ten years ago were more bemused (and amused) then creeped out, but I suppose the differences include both that it was art and that it didn't include functional genitalia.
posted by ejs at 10:43 AM on April 4, 2016
Those commenters ten years ago were more bemused (and amused) then creeped out, but I suppose the differences include both that it was art and that it didn't include functional genitalia.
posted by ejs at 10:43 AM on April 4, 2016
If this creation is mainly a sex-toy, well, ewww... but not much more so than if it was just an inflatable, or a flashlight with an orifice. In that regard, it's a plastic-smelling appliance with limited, predictable and unrealistic responses; no one will really think they just pleasured a real girl, let alone ScarJo. It won't pass the Turing sex test, in other words.
Of course I'm closer to 60 than 30, so I perhaps forget what I might have chosen to get it on with. See also American Pie.
posted by Artful Codger at 10:53 AM on April 4, 2016
Of course I'm closer to 60 than 30, so I perhaps forget what I might have chosen to get it on with. See also American Pie.
posted by Artful Codger at 10:53 AM on April 4, 2016
sad that maybe he's had so little success with real women
I submit that the attitude which led him to build a Data-esque fully functional robot of one of the most talented actors of her generation is exactly why he (hypothetically) hasn't done so well with actual women. That whole "women are people" thing seems to throw a lot of guys off.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 10:54 AM on April 4, 2016 [12 favorites]
I submit that the attitude which led him to build a Data-esque fully functional robot of one of the most talented actors of her generation is exactly why he (hypothetically) hasn't done so well with actual women. That whole "women are people" thing seems to throw a lot of guys off.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 10:54 AM on April 4, 2016 [12 favorites]
with limited, predictable and unrealistic responses
You realize this is part of the appeal, right? These guys don't want agency, autonomy, or unpredictability. That's precisely why they prefer robots or dolls to real-life women.
posted by naju at 10:57 AM on April 4, 2016 [7 favorites]
You realize this is part of the appeal, right? These guys don't want agency, autonomy, or unpredictability. That's precisely why they prefer robots or dolls to real-life women.
posted by naju at 10:57 AM on April 4, 2016 [7 favorites]
no one will really think they just pleasured a real girl
They're not at all concerned with the pleasure of the girl. That's the point.
posted by cooker girl at 10:59 AM on April 4, 2016 [15 favorites]
They're not at all concerned with the pleasure of the girl. That's the point.
posted by cooker girl at 10:59 AM on April 4, 2016 [15 favorites]
Anyone unable to understand the mindset leading to this sort of interaction with women can also see Pixels, where a man was awarded a literal trophy woman to take home with him after saving the day. Some men never internalize the idea that women ought to have a say in who they have sex with.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 11:10 AM on April 4, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 11:10 AM on April 4, 2016 [6 favorites]
If he had revealed the real robot underneath the ScarJo suit was the alien from Under the Skin, I would high five him.
posted by benzenedream at 11:20 AM on April 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by benzenedream at 11:20 AM on April 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
Well, just one more thing for the future to get creepy about. I can totally see a black/grey market in sexbots designed to look, and given sufficient technology even act a bit, like famous people both dead and alive.
Along with the pedophile sex bots, and the "your ex" sex bots, which are also guaranteed to be on the way, we do seem to keep finding ways to make the future more creepy. And you just know someone will be marketing sex bots that simulate pain responses too.....
posted by sotonohito at 11:32 AM on April 4, 2016
Along with the pedophile sex bots, and the "your ex" sex bots, which are also guaranteed to be on the way, we do seem to keep finding ways to make the future more creepy. And you just know someone will be marketing sex bots that simulate pain responses too.....
posted by sotonohito at 11:32 AM on April 4, 2016
I think child sex bots (as long as they are not ever modeled on real children) seem like possibly a really good idea for pedophiles, if they would prevent victimization of real live children.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 11:37 AM on April 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 11:37 AM on April 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
You may be right FFFM, but it's still creepy.
posted by sotonohito at 11:47 AM on April 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by sotonohito at 11:47 AM on April 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
It's bit akward to copy likeness of someone but it's just a fancy sex-toy. Tacky, but harmless. Lonely guys to building companions for themself has been around since Pygmalion. If it makes him happy then that's great.
When it get's intersting once these thigns can have personalities along the movie She. When they can talk with some emotional intelligence, make gestures and have good variance of facial expressions. Maybe something alike sims-AI and language would be first plausible. But later on, will there be robo persona actors? Entertainment licenced bot-personas? I bet unlicenced David Bowie or Loki bots would find their audiences.
posted by Arkki at 11:48 AM on April 4, 2016
When it get's intersting once these thigns can have personalities along the movie She. When they can talk with some emotional intelligence, make gestures and have good variance of facial expressions. Maybe something alike sims-AI and language would be first plausible. But later on, will there be robo persona actors? Entertainment licenced bot-personas? I bet unlicenced David Bowie or Loki bots would find their audiences.
posted by Arkki at 11:48 AM on April 4, 2016
a Data-esque fully functional robot of one of the most talented actors of her generation
Eh. This is a high end tinker toy with some ill-fitting latex and a decent replica of Johansson's face. He could've saved a bunch of money by starting with one of those plastic skeletons on wheels. It basically Is that anyway considering it has no mobility beyond joint articulation and some eyelid movement. It's about as uncanny as one of those Chucky Cheese band members. I think the real worrisome part of this is that it is a very pronounced mark of things to come as the tech evolves considering that he wants to sell this to make money to build better ones. People made to order!
posted by P.o.B. at 11:53 AM on April 4, 2016
Eh. This is a high end tinker toy with some ill-fitting latex and a decent replica of Johansson's face. He could've saved a bunch of money by starting with one of those plastic skeletons on wheels. It basically Is that anyway considering it has no mobility beyond joint articulation and some eyelid movement. It's about as uncanny as one of those Chucky Cheese band members. I think the real worrisome part of this is that it is a very pronounced mark of things to come as the tech evolves considering that he wants to sell this to make money to build better ones. People made to order!
posted by P.o.B. at 11:53 AM on April 4, 2016
Am I the only one that thought of Weird Science?
I started humming "My creation—Is it real?" as soon as I saw the link.
(Apropos, I saw the new Anthony Michael Hall AT&T commercial just this weekend.)
posted by octobersurprise at 11:57 AM on April 4, 2016
I started humming "My creation—Is it real?" as soon as I saw the link.
(Apropos, I saw the new Anthony Michael Hall AT&T commercial just this weekend.)
posted by octobersurprise at 11:57 AM on April 4, 2016
"Fully functional" refers to the episode of ST:TNG when everyone drops ecstasy gets space drunk and Yar fucks Data.
Also, PSA to fellow dude-identified people: women right here are saying this is creepy/gross/objectifying. For you/us to say it's harmless or whatever is pretty much the definition of mansplaining so maybe stop, eh?
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 11:59 AM on April 4, 2016 [14 favorites]
Also, PSA to fellow dude-identified people: women right here are saying this is creepy/gross/objectifying. For you/us to say it's harmless or whatever is pretty much the definition of mansplaining so maybe stop, eh?
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 11:59 AM on April 4, 2016 [14 favorites]
And if I had my way next AMH would be in a viagra commercial as a 47 year old man who builds a machine to make his dream woman out of which would come a 56 year old Kelly Le Brock.
posted by octobersurprise at 12:03 PM on April 4, 2016
posted by octobersurprise at 12:03 PM on April 4, 2016
I keep seeing this in the media as a "look at this quirky guy's hobby!" story. Does the media not realize he's creepily boning a weird self-made Scarjo sexbot? Or...? I mean, they must realize that right?
posted by Justinian at 12:29 PM on April 4, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 12:29 PM on April 4, 2016 [3 favorites]
I'm curious about the proposition of creating child bots for pedophiles. What about supplying would be rapists with the adult bots? How is this different for children? Would this be good in reducing or even legitimizing sex work? This is literal objectification, that's prima facie. Understanding rape through the lens of power dynamics & control, this potentially could be very damaging overall for society. Lots of ink has been put down on the effects of porn on attitudes towards women and sex. Now we're moving into the age of widespread use of VR and soon robotics will be very common. Things to consider.
posted by P.o.B. at 12:29 PM on April 4, 2016
posted by P.o.B. at 12:29 PM on April 4, 2016
Not to get too far in the weeds but there seems to be, for the most part, a major difference between rape (most of which isn't stranger in an alley with a knife) and pedophilia, which seems to be a desire. We can address the vast majority of rape socially and reduce victims that way. Pedophilia doesn't seem to be like that, so best bet looks like providing a substitute while preventing access to children. We're getting rather far afield from the original topic though so I'm moving away from this derail.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 12:35 PM on April 4, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 12:35 PM on April 4, 2016 [3 favorites]
But "potentially damaging" is kind of meaningless. One could just as accurately say it is "potentially helpful".
Bots in general I mean. It's hard to see making bots with non-consenting celebrities faces as anything but the damaging part.
posted by Justinian at 12:36 PM on April 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
Bots in general I mean. It's hard to see making bots with non-consenting celebrities faces as anything but the damaging part.
posted by Justinian at 12:36 PM on April 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
Right! It could be useful, or not.
Pedophilia doesn't seem to be like that
Hmmnn, not so sure about that. Usually the term is applied as an after effect of an assault. Society by and large would have to be okay with simply determining it just a desire. Are you suggesting people step up to this desire and admit it (which happens with a vanishingly small percent of the that particular population and even then are vilified for it)? Or is the suggestion that the child bots are sold with a "oh, you can't have kids of your own and don't want to,or can't, adopt one of your own? Well, I have just the model for you!" *wink wink nudge nudge*?
I apologize if this is a derail, but I think this is actually the meat of the conversation instead of the "look at this @$$#o13!".
posted by P.o.B. at 12:50 PM on April 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
Pedophilia doesn't seem to be like that
Hmmnn, not so sure about that. Usually the term is applied as an after effect of an assault. Society by and large would have to be okay with simply determining it just a desire. Are you suggesting people step up to this desire and admit it (which happens with a vanishingly small percent of the that particular population and even then are vilified for it)? Or is the suggestion that the child bots are sold with a "oh, you can't have kids of your own and don't want to,or can't, adopt one of your own? Well, I have just the model for you!" *wink wink nudge nudge*?
I apologize if this is a derail, but I think this is actually the meat of the conversation instead of the "look at this @$$#o13!".
posted by P.o.B. at 12:50 PM on April 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
I really think the meat of the conversation here is the literal objectification of a woman by a man and the continued insistence of other men on minimizing and dismissing the real concerns this raises.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 12:53 PM on April 4, 2016 [7 favorites]
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 12:53 PM on April 4, 2016 [7 favorites]
I thought that's what we were just discussing... carry on.
posted by P.o.B. at 12:55 PM on April 4, 2016
posted by P.o.B. at 12:55 PM on April 4, 2016
I think there's quite a big distinction here. On the one hand, we have the creator's lack of "success with women" which caused him to spend masses of time communicating with no one in a giant meaningless quest to capture the most superficial thing possible about one particular person. On the other hand, we have the person whose humanity he's utterly failed to capture, and she has spent a productive career capturing and communicating to people lots of things about what it means to be a person.
So yes, there is one form of expression that needs criticism, and it's this man's, because it harms the communication which is good for people: the one where we have a world where we can have woman actors and we can listen to what they say and do, not the shape of their bodies.
And because of all that, I'm not particularly keen to empathise with this man's lack of "success" with women. I am perfectly happy to empathise with his lack of ability to communicate meaningful human emotions, and, if after he'd succeeded in working to become an actual person, he was still struggling romantically, then I'd empathise, but from reading this, the guy seems to need to grow up a lot first.
posted by ambrosen at 1:15 PM on April 4, 2016 [7 favorites]
So yes, there is one form of expression that needs criticism, and it's this man's, because it harms the communication which is good for people: the one where we have a world where we can have woman actors and we can listen to what they say and do, not the shape of their bodies.
And because of all that, I'm not particularly keen to empathise with this man's lack of "success" with women. I am perfectly happy to empathise with his lack of ability to communicate meaningful human emotions, and, if after he'd succeeded in working to become an actual person, he was still struggling romantically, then I'd empathise, but from reading this, the guy seems to need to grow up a lot first.
posted by ambrosen at 1:15 PM on April 4, 2016 [7 favorites]
I'm sorry, maybe I'm not making myself clear. The whole point of my line of questioning was the fact that he is without a doubt, and with zero objections from me as to the fact that, he is objectifying a women, and women in general, and the very real implications this could have in the future on a broader spectrum. As this looks like a train that isn't stopping anytime soon, regardless of our opinions. If that conversation is not something nobody wants to have then okay, as I said carry on.
posted by P.o.B. at 1:34 PM on April 4, 2016
posted by P.o.B. at 1:34 PM on April 4, 2016
No, I got your point.
But my reaction to that is to point out that, in this context, no there's no conversation to be had around the question of "What are the uses of robots as sex surrogates?". Because the reaction of the community I want to - and I do - belong to is overwhelmingly "How is it possible that the wider world's narrative around this is presenting this grotesque dehumanisation of a specific person as being harmless?".
And it's the latter question which is far more pertinent to this story. I have very little doubt that if you wanted the former conversation, you could find a story which would give rise to it effortlessly.
posted by ambrosen at 2:16 PM on April 4, 2016 [3 favorites]
But my reaction to that is to point out that, in this context, no there's no conversation to be had around the question of "What are the uses of robots as sex surrogates?". Because the reaction of the community I want to - and I do - belong to is overwhelmingly "How is it possible that the wider world's narrative around this is presenting this grotesque dehumanisation of a specific person as being harmless?".
And it's the latter question which is far more pertinent to this story. I have very little doubt that if you wanted the former conversation, you could find a story which would give rise to it effortlessly.
posted by ambrosen at 2:16 PM on April 4, 2016 [3 favorites]
I think it's sad and creepy (the fucking chattering when "she" talks! it could haunt your dreams), but if it keeps some people off the streets...gamers, let's say...I don't know, all. We have to face the fact that we have a world society where some men just cannot function as normal. I have no idea how to fix it, but these profoundly damaged social mutants are not getting any better. If you give them a sextoy that talks, they won't bother anyone else. Look, I saw an article the other day about sending murderers who had served their time monthly checks for not murdering any people that month. If we just accept that there is no fixing some people, what's left? We give them an incentive to keep their crazy at home.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 3:08 PM on April 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by kittens for breakfast at 3:08 PM on April 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
We have to face the fact that we have a world society where some men just cannot will not function as normal.
Let's get away from the "they can't control themselves" line and not encourage them to imagine a utopia where they don't actually have to consider women as people with thoughts and feelings and agency. "You don't want to treat women as human beings? Good news - now you won't have to!" Colour me unconvinced that the end result is a reduction in rape culture.
posted by billiebee at 3:24 PM on April 4, 2016 [14 favorites]
Let's get away from the "they can't control themselves" line and not encourage them to imagine a utopia where they don't actually have to consider women as people with thoughts and feelings and agency. "You don't want to treat women as human beings? Good news - now you won't have to!" Colour me unconvinced that the end result is a reduction in rape culture.
posted by billiebee at 3:24 PM on April 4, 2016 [14 favorites]
Y'all should head over to today's male socialization thread and contribute something there. Because something about this guy's socialization got fucked up probably, no?
posted by clawsoon at 3:31 PM on April 4, 2016
posted by clawsoon at 3:31 PM on April 4, 2016
Mod note: A few comments deleted. Please drop the sort of weird sidebar about P.o.B.'s point.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 4:01 PM on April 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 4:01 PM on April 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
Let's get away from the "they can't control themselves" line and not encourage them to imagine a utopia where they don't actually have to consider women as people with thoughts and feelings and agency.
I was really thinking of it more as a utopia where no one would have to deal with these guys.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 4:23 PM on April 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
I was really thinking of it more as a utopia where no one would have to deal with these guys.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 4:23 PM on April 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
If he could manage to make it more realistic, I would totally buy one of these.
.... Why are you looking at me like that? Wait, no, I don't want one for prurient reasons. I'm just thinking I could go ahead and make my own goddamn Black Widow movie.
posted by webmutant at 6:11 PM on April 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
.... Why are you looking at me like that? Wait, no, I don't want one for prurient reasons. I'm just thinking I could go ahead and make my own goddamn Black Widow movie.
posted by webmutant at 6:11 PM on April 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
Look, I saw an article the other day about sending murderers who had served their time monthly checks for not murdering any people that month.
Holy shit, if this is actually a thing now, I totally deserve checks for not murdering people. Checks with lots of zeroes.
posted by webmutant at 6:13 PM on April 4, 2016 [3 favorites]
Holy shit, if this is actually a thing now, I totally deserve checks for not murdering people. Checks with lots of zeroes.
posted by webmutant at 6:13 PM on April 4, 2016 [3 favorites]
Thought #1: I hope Scarlett sues this one too.
Thought #2: Yeah, creepy.
Thought #3: " I have no idea how to fix it, but these profoundly damaged social mutants are not getting any better. If you give them a sextoy that talks, they won't bother anyone else."
....I kinda agree with this actually, though it is also a good point that they will still have to interact with the dreaded females in the rest of life even if at the Burger King and you can't help them with that. But if certain dudes are problematic on a good day with women (or are sexually attracted to kids) and can't really do a real life relationship but still crave the sexbot...I seriously wonder if this is a doable option, as long as they uh, don't look like anyone specific. Because hell, nobody knows how to fix this problem otherwise.
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:59 PM on April 4, 2016
Thought #2: Yeah, creepy.
Thought #3: " I have no idea how to fix it, but these profoundly damaged social mutants are not getting any better. If you give them a sextoy that talks, they won't bother anyone else."
....I kinda agree with this actually, though it is also a good point that they will still have to interact with the dreaded females in the rest of life even if at the Burger King and you can't help them with that. But if certain dudes are problematic on a good day with women (or are sexually attracted to kids) and can't really do a real life relationship but still crave the sexbot...I seriously wonder if this is a doable option, as long as they uh, don't look like anyone specific. Because hell, nobody knows how to fix this problem otherwise.
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:59 PM on April 4, 2016
Creepy translates to disgusting and not scary in 100% of cases. It's a polite way of saying, "my entire being wishes for the annihilation of _____ right fucking now please?" Careful what you write in the space. It's important to differentiate what it is you straight-up religiously self-righteously hate and what recieves a pardon: sexbots? Or celebrity sexbots? The conditions underneath which this sort of man and his kinds of beliefs can emerge? We actually do have enough fire to purify any of those rotten, foul things and they're called hydrogen bombs. Anything short of species suicide, however, won't annihilate the motivational structures deeply embedded in peoples brains which cause them to do icky things so while that in no way should excuse or encourage such abominations as this, you should remember that it's disgust-sensitive all-or-nothing beliefs that really get the ball rolling on Armageddon.
posted by Taft at 3:14 AM on April 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Taft at 3:14 AM on April 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
Creepy translates to disgusting and not scary in 100% of cases.
Citation needed for this assumption before anyone addresses the conclusions you've built upon it.
posted by harriet vane at 3:37 AM on April 5, 2016 [4 favorites]
Citation needed for this assumption before anyone addresses the conclusions you've built upon it.
posted by harriet vane at 3:37 AM on April 5, 2016 [4 favorites]
I should have written "disgusting and not necessarily scary" because something disgusting can be both but the dominant sentiment is definitely revulsion, not fright. No citation for the claim, it's merely an observation.
posted by Taft at 3:56 AM on April 5, 2016
posted by Taft at 3:56 AM on April 5, 2016
I pretty much define creepy these days as "when you say no, they keep on coming at you anyway." (Or in this case, build a sexbot.)
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:04 AM on April 5, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:04 AM on April 5, 2016 [5 favorites]
If I were a woman I would find the literal objectification deeply frightening on a visceral level instead of at one remove. So while, yeah, on one level is disgusting, on another far more important level this isn't that far on the objectification spectrum from "it rubs the lotion on its skin."
Not sure where on the gender spectrum you identify, Taft, but if it's on the male side, you might want to read my PSA above.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 7:29 AM on April 5, 2016 [5 favorites]
Not sure where on the gender spectrum you identify, Taft, but if it's on the male side, you might want to read my PSA above.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 7:29 AM on April 5, 2016 [5 favorites]
I have no idea how to fix it, but these profoundly damaged social mutants are not getting any better. If you give them a sextoy that talks, they won't bother anyone else.
I can see where you're coming from, in a way - it does seem like a nice simple technological solution to a societal problem - but the thing is you're essentially assuming that "guys who want to build their own sexbot" are creepy all the time. And the thing we've learned from things like GamerGate and the exposure of various trolls and the willingness of people to post the most horrible shit on Facebook or Twitter or wherever under their real names, is that misogyny and creepiness and sexism exist on a spectrum and manifest in different ways in different places.
I mean, for all we know, Ricky Ma doesn't bother anyone; he might very well be the politest meekest guy when dealing with women in public or at work or even in private. This (apparently) happens all the time - some guy seems perfectly "normal" and balanced in their relationships with women until suddenly there's a screaming left turn into misogyny.
Which is to say that the problem is not that we (as a society) want to keep a handful of obvious creeps away from women - well, I mean, that's one problem we'd like to solve - but that Ma's willingness to build a ScarJo sexbot is emblematic of a problem dealing with "women as actual people" that may not manifest in obvious ways. So giving the "profoundly damaged social mutants" of the world their own sexbots doesn't actually address the real issues - you're treating the sniffles with Kleenex rather than taking on the virus.
posted by soundguy99 at 7:48 AM on April 5, 2016 [5 favorites]
I can see where you're coming from, in a way - it does seem like a nice simple technological solution to a societal problem - but the thing is you're essentially assuming that "guys who want to build their own sexbot" are creepy all the time. And the thing we've learned from things like GamerGate and the exposure of various trolls and the willingness of people to post the most horrible shit on Facebook or Twitter or wherever under their real names, is that misogyny and creepiness and sexism exist on a spectrum and manifest in different ways in different places.
I mean, for all we know, Ricky Ma doesn't bother anyone; he might very well be the politest meekest guy when dealing with women in public or at work or even in private. This (apparently) happens all the time - some guy seems perfectly "normal" and balanced in their relationships with women until suddenly there's a screaming left turn into misogyny.
Which is to say that the problem is not that we (as a society) want to keep a handful of obvious creeps away from women - well, I mean, that's one problem we'd like to solve - but that Ma's willingness to build a ScarJo sexbot is emblematic of a problem dealing with "women as actual people" that may not manifest in obvious ways. So giving the "profoundly damaged social mutants" of the world their own sexbots doesn't actually address the real issues - you're treating the sniffles with Kleenex rather than taking on the virus.
posted by soundguy99 at 7:48 AM on April 5, 2016 [5 favorites]
I'm really not sure this virus has a cure, is where I'm coming from with this. If it does, it may take a very long time to formulate. In the interim, if we can contain the problem, why not?
posted by kittens for breakfast at 10:32 AM on April 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by kittens for breakfast at 10:32 AM on April 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
Do you really think that providing obvious creeps with sexbots is a practical solution, here?
posted by soundguy99 at 11:03 AM on April 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by soundguy99 at 11:03 AM on April 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
Go read the thread that directly precedes this one and then you tell me.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 11:16 AM on April 5, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by kittens for breakfast at 11:16 AM on April 5, 2016 [2 favorites]
If the guy wanted a SJ sex doll I'm sure he could've made it happen for less than 50K and a hell of a lot of effort.
I'd love to be able to build a robot. And if I did, and invested all that time and money into it, I wouldn't design it to look like Larry King. Personally, I'd go for Heidi Klum. And train her to fetch me beer.
And, I know this doesn't withstand logical scrutiny but it's true -- I would trade my current (reasonably comfortable) life for one which inspired people to create replicas of me, sexual or not. Provided that fame was achieved honorably -- as in SJ.
If the guy were to try to MONETIZE it, then we have a problem.
He's a highly intelligent hobbyist. Maybe with a kink, maybe more. But it all seems harmless to me.
posted by raider at 8:26 PM on April 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
I'd love to be able to build a robot. And if I did, and invested all that time and money into it, I wouldn't design it to look like Larry King. Personally, I'd go for Heidi Klum. And train her to fetch me beer.
And, I know this doesn't withstand logical scrutiny but it's true -- I would trade my current (reasonably comfortable) life for one which inspired people to create replicas of me, sexual or not. Provided that fame was achieved honorably -- as in SJ.
If the guy were to try to MONETIZE it, then we have a problem.
He's a highly intelligent hobbyist. Maybe with a kink, maybe more. But it all seems harmless to me.
posted by raider at 8:26 PM on April 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
And train her to fetch me beer.
I find this a very uncomfortable sentence, and I think I would find it just as uncomfortable if it were “And train him to fetch me beer.” Maybe if we were gendering a consumer-facing version of Big Dog and not a robot designed to look like a person.
posted by Going To Maine at 8:33 PM on April 5, 2016 [2 favorites]
I find this a very uncomfortable sentence, and I think I would find it just as uncomfortable if it were “And train him to fetch me beer.” Maybe if we were gendering a consumer-facing version of Big Dog and not a robot designed to look like a person.
posted by Going To Maine at 8:33 PM on April 5, 2016 [2 favorites]
Why This Guy’s Scarlett Johansson Robot Raises a Lot of … Concerns
posted by homunculus at 8:51 PM on April 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by homunculus at 8:51 PM on April 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
If the guy wanted a SJ sex doll I'm sure he could've made it happen for less than 50K
Well, he could've drawn a face on a cantaloupe for less than a tenner. But for 1/100th of his cost he could've bought one of Tenga's new VR sex suits which "can send impulses all over the wearer’s body to make it feel like another human being is touching them."
posted by octobersurprise at 6:30 AM on April 6, 2016
Well, he could've drawn a face on a cantaloupe for less than a tenner. But for 1/100th of his cost he could've bought one of Tenga's new VR sex suits which "can send impulses all over the wearer’s body to make it feel like another human being is touching them."
posted by octobersurprise at 6:30 AM on April 6, 2016
And train her to fetch me beer.
Jesus that is gross anyway. In the context of this thread where actual! live! human! women! are saying that this whole thing is deeply problematic and most decidedly not harmless it's fucking grotesque.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 9:44 AM on April 6, 2016 [6 favorites]
Jesus that is gross anyway. In the context of this thread where actual! live! human! women! are saying that this whole thing is deeply problematic and most decidedly not harmless it's fucking grotesque.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 9:44 AM on April 6, 2016 [6 favorites]
Also horrifying, misogynist, deeply and aggressively clueless, disgusting... hold on let me get a thesaurus because I am going cross eyed at how a human being could walk into a discussion where women are saying "this is a serious problem and here is why" and go "yannow I'd make a Heidi Klum robot and program her to bring me beer"
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 9:47 AM on April 6, 2016 [11 favorites]
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 9:47 AM on April 6, 2016 [11 favorites]
I think it is cool to see how technology is moving forward, but in the same time I feel somewhat frighten. Are we all gonna be replaced by robots in the end?
posted by Krislarsson at 6:47 AM on April 7, 2016
posted by Krislarsson at 6:47 AM on April 7, 2016
Are we all gonna be replaced by robots in the end?
Surely the best version of the robot apocalypse is one where everyone is replaced with sex robots, sex-roboting together for eternity.
posted by Going To Maine at 4:49 PM on April 7, 2016
Surely the best version of the robot apocalypse is one where everyone is replaced with sex robots, sex-roboting together for eternity.
posted by Going To Maine at 4:49 PM on April 7, 2016
I think it is cool to see how technology is moving forward, but in the same time I feel somewhat frighten. Are we all gonna be replaced by robots in the end?
no, no. the robots will keep some of us around so they can fuck us
posted by prize bull octorok at 4:54 PM on April 7, 2016 [3 favorites]
no, no. the robots will keep some of us around so they can fuck us
posted by prize bull octorok at 4:54 PM on April 7, 2016 [3 favorites]
sigh
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 6:05 PM on April 7, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 6:05 PM on April 7, 2016 [1 favorite]
“People respond to robots in a primitive, social way,” Li said in a statement. “Social conventions regarding touching someone else’s private parts apply to a robot’s body parts as well.”
posted by P.o.B. at 8:23 PM on April 7, 2016
posted by P.o.B. at 8:23 PM on April 7, 2016
What The Scarlett Johansson Robot Says About The Future.
posted by jenfullmoon at 11:36 AM on April 8, 2016
posted by jenfullmoon at 11:36 AM on April 8, 2016
... another article which ignores the creepy elephant in the room and mostly addresses the implications for right-to-publicity. Weird.
posted by Justinian at 12:24 PM on April 8, 2016
posted by Justinian at 12:24 PM on April 8, 2016
... another article which ignores the creepy elephant in the room and mostly addresses the implications for right-to-publicity. Weird.
Assuming that the elephant in the room is “he's creepily boning a weird self-made Scarjo sexbot,” mainstream publications don't generally like to run stories about people boning insentient objects, animate or otherwise. Besides, the “boning” part is essentially “man bones Real Doll,” which is not, in and of itself, a new thing.
posted by Going To Maine at 1:43 PM on April 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Assuming that the elephant in the room is “he's creepily boning a weird self-made Scarjo sexbot,” mainstream publications don't generally like to run stories about people boning insentient objects, animate or otherwise. Besides, the “boning” part is essentially “man bones Real Doll,” which is not, in and of itself, a new thing.
posted by Going To Maine at 1:43 PM on April 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
(Now, if the creepy story in the room is how social and cultural norms are driving some men to be more interested in sex robots rather than companionship with real women, well, that would be a good story. We had some of those back when Dakimakura had their fifteen minutes of fame, but there is surely room for more.)
posted by Going To Maine at 1:45 PM on April 8, 2016
posted by Going To Maine at 1:45 PM on April 8, 2016
I have no problem with media not wanting to run a story about creepy object sex. I kind of have a problem with them running a story about a dude creepily objectifying a celebrity for weird object sex but playing it as a HA HA funny human interest story. Either don't do a story or do it right.
posted by Justinian at 3:03 PM on April 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Justinian at 3:03 PM on April 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
I kind of have a problem with them running a story about a dude creepily objectifying a celebrity for weird object sex but playing it as a HA HA funny human interest story.
That Slate article doesn’t seem to be particularly “ha ha” - it just dodges the issue of the specific built a robot for sex in favor of the more general case of robot ethics:
posted by Going To Maine at 3:30 PM on April 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
That Slate article doesn’t seem to be particularly “ha ha” - it just dodges the issue of the specific built a robot for sex in favor of the more general case of robot ethics:
What if instead of making the Scarlett Johansson robot without the actress’s permission, a robot manufacturer legally licensed her face and trotted out millions upon millions of ScarJos to serve as personal assistants? Is this ethical?These seem like pretty valid questions. I’d also be interested in seeing the articles about why a dude building a sex robot that looked like ScarJo for home use is different than him making one for public use, or the one about how building a ScarJo is different from him 3D print a ScarJo Real Doll. I hope someone writes them.
…
We should be having real discussions about the ethics of the design of such interfaces, from questioning embedded gender and racial biases, to worrying about consumer protection when ScarJo bot asks you, in her husky voice, to buy her an upgrade.
posted by Going To Maine at 3:30 PM on April 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
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posted by thelonius at 10:06 PM on April 3, 2016 [32 favorites]