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The Desiring Algorithm. The Sex Appeal of the Inorganic

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Progresses in Artificial Intelligence and Neural Systems

Part of the book series: Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies ((SIST,volume 184))

Abstract

Each new era brings with it new technologies and new challenges to civilization. The impetuous technological development is changing the economy and work more and more every day; to the point of making the passage from agrarian society to industrial society seem like a trifle. Nevertheless, if there is widespread awareness of the general issues of society, there is definitely less on the way in which anthropomorphic robots (increasingly in an emotional and cognitive relationship with human beings) are radically modifying intimate and exclusive spheres such as sexuality and love. An epochal passage is being announced from an organic sexuality (driven by desire and pleasure) to an inorganic, artificial sexuality, suspended in an abstract excitement, always at hand and disengaged from categories such as beauty, forms and age. In this paper, we will discuss the plausibility of an emotional relationship between robots and human beings and its ethical implications. It is probable, in fact, that soon there will be self-aware robots, capable of experiencing feelings such as love, joy, suffering, pain and pleasure. If this scenario is realized, will we continue to think that they are only machines, or will we recognize the moral relevance that they do not have today?

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neuroscience and Reproductive and Odontostomatological Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy

    Nelson Mauro Maldonato, Paolo Valerio, Mario Bottone & Cristiano Scandurra

  2. DiSU—Department of Humanities, University of Basilicata, Potenza, Italy

    Raffaele Sperandeo

  3. Pontifical Lateran University, Rome, Italy

    Ciro Punzo

  4. Intradepartmental Program of Clinical Psychology, AOU, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy

    Benedetta Muzii

  5. Graduate Member Within British Psychological Society, London, UK

    Simone D’Andrea

  6. Department of Psychology, University of Campania “L. Vanvitelli” and IIASS, Naples, Italy

    Anna Eposito

Authors
  1. Nelson Mauro Maldonato
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  2. Paolo Valerio
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  3. Mario Bottone
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  4. Raffaele Sperandeo
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  5. Cristiano Scandurra
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  6. Ciro Punzo
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  7. Benedetta Muzii
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  8. Simone D’Andrea
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  9. Anna Eposito
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nelson Mauro Maldonato .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Psicologia and IIASS, Università della Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Caserta, Italy

    Anna Esposito

  2. Fundació Tecnocampus, Pompeu Fabra University, Mataró, Barcelona, Spain

    Marcos Faundez-Zanuy

  3. Department of Civil, Environmental, Energy, and Material Engineering, University Mediterranea of Reggio Calabria, Reggio Calabria, Italy

    Francesco Carlo Morabito

  4. Laboratorio di Neuronica, Dipartimento Elettronica e Telecomunicazioni , Politecnico di Torino, Torino, Italy

    Eros Pasero

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© 2021 The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

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Maldonato, N.M. et al. (2021). The Desiring Algorithm. The Sex Appeal of the Inorganic. In: Esposito, A., Faundez-Zanuy, M., Morabito, F., Pasero, E. (eds) Progresses in Artificial Intelligence and Neural Systems. Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies, vol 184. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-5093-5_52

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