A recent survey conducted by the Huffington Post and YouGov shows that we’re surprisingly open to the idea of having carnal relations with mechanical companions.
And the poll was fairly legit. YouGov surveyed 1,000 U.S. adults from February 20th to 21st, and the sample group factored in demographic characteristics like age, race, gender, education, income, interest in politics, and religion.
Results of the survey can be found here (pdf).
In response to questions about robotic sex partners, here’s what they found:
Eighteen percent of respondents indicated that they believed sexbots will be available by 2030. Nine percent indicated that they would have sex with a robot if they could (though perhaps they wouldn't have been keen on admitting that if they could).
Sex with a robot raises some thorny ethical questions — including whether a married person who hooked up with a robot would be guilty of infidelity. What did the poll find? Forty-two percent of Americans indicated that such a dalliance would constitute cheating. Another 31 percent said it wouldn't, and 26 percent said they were unsure. Respondents under age 30 were almost as likely to say it wouldn't be cheating (34 percent) as that it would (36 percent). Americans over age 65 were far more likely to say that it would, by a 52 percent to 24 percent margin.
The poll also looked into the comfort level people have when it comes to personal service robots.
Nearly 60% of Americans predicted that robots will be cleaning homes by 2030, but only 33% said they’d want a robot servant; 42% said they didn’t want one. Interestingly, age was a factor; people between 40 and 44 were most likely to say they would like a robot servant, while adults 65 and older were more likely to say no thanks.