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[-] HedyL@awful.systems 5 points 2 days ago

Maybe my analogy is a little bit too silly and too obvious, but I think wanting a humanoid robot (rather than one designed in a way that is best suited for the purpose) could be somewhat akin to wanting a mechanical horse rather than a car. On the one hand, this may sound like a reasonable idea if saddles, carriages, stables and blacksmiths are already available. On the other hand, the mechanical horse is going to be a lot slower than a car and a lot more uncomfortable to ride. Also, it is still going to need charging stations or gas stations (since it won't eat oats) and dedicated repair shops (since veterinarians won't be able to fix it). Also, its technology might be a lot more complex and difficult to fix than that of a car (especially the early models).

[-] cstross@wandering.shop 8 points 2 days ago

@HedyL Generally people who want a mechanical horse don't fantasize about fucking it … the main techbro use case for humanoid robots is "sexbot", so they don't have to learn all the emotional skills you need in order to have a relationship with an actual human being.

[-] dgerard@awful.systems 2 points 1 day ago

the interesting thing is i looked and that isn't actually a big enough market to sustain itself

[-] cstross@wandering.shop 4 points 1 day ago

@dgerard Not to worry; the promotion of incel bullshit via social media algorithms will generate increasing demand for sexbots by and by …

[-] Seminar2250@awful.systems 4 points 2 days ago

it won’t eat oats

not sure why but this really ruins it for me

this post was submitted on 01 Aug 2025
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