Kathleen Richardson - Böcker

This book explores the making of robots in labs at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). It examines the cultural ideas that go into the making of robots, and the role of fiction in co-constructing the technological practices of the robotic scientists. The book engages with debates in anthropological theorizing regarding the way that robots are reimagined as intelligent, autonomous and social and weaved into lived social realities. Richardson charts the move away from the “worker” robot of the 1920s to the “social” one of the 2000s, as robots are reimagined as companions, friends and therapeutic agents.

This book explores the making of robots in labs at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). It examines the cultural ideas that go into the making of robots, and the role of fiction in co-constructing the technological practices of the robotic scientists. The book engages with debates in anthropological theorizing regarding the way that robots are reimagined as intelligent, autonomous and social and weaved into lived social realities. Richardson charts the move away from the “worker” robot of the 1920s to the “social” one of the 2000s, as robots are reimagined as companions, friends and therapeutic agents.

There are more ways of connecting and communicating via technology than ever before. Yet loneliness is on the rise as we begin to experience an 'attachment crisis' in forming and maintaining intimate relationships.  Enter sex robots. Built from the bodies of sex dolls, they are created to help humans – particularly men – cope with our inability to connect. In this bold and trenchant critique, Kathleen Richardson explores important questions surrounding this emerging technology. What does the rise of sex robots tell us about the way that women and girls are imagined? To what extent are porn, prostitution and child sexual exploitation driving the attachment crisis? The author argues that sex robots are produced within a framework of 'property relations' – in which egocentric Man (and his disconnection from Woman) shapes the building of robots and AI. Can this tide of destruction and disconnection be turned, and what would a revolution for the love of humanity look like? Presenting a passionate case for the abolition of practices that cast women as property, Sex Robots: The End of Love is essential reading for students and scholars of robot ethics, anthropology, gender studies, philosophy of technology, sociology and related fields, as well as anyone concerned for the future of human relationships.

There are more ways of connecting and communicating via technology than ever before. Yet loneliness is on the rise as we begin to experience an 'attachment crisis' in forming and maintaining intimate relationships.  Enter sex robots. Built from the bodies of sex dolls, they are created to help humans – particularly men – cope with our inability to connect. In this bold and trenchant critique, Kathleen Richardson explores important questions surrounding this emerging technology. What does the rise of sex robots tell us about the way that women and girls are imagined? To what extent are porn, prostitution and child sexual exploitation driving the attachment crisis? The author argues that sex robots are produced within a framework of 'property relations' – in which egocentric Man (and his disconnection from Woman) shapes the building of robots and AI. Can this tide of destruction and disconnection be turned, and what would a revolution for the love of humanity look like? Presenting a passionate case for the abolition of practices that cast women as property, Sex Robots: The End of Love is essential reading for students and scholars of robot ethics, anthropology, gender studies, philosophy of technology, sociology and related fields, as well as anyone concerned for the future of human relationships.

This book explores the development of humanoid robots for helping children with autism develop social skills based on fieldwork in the UK and the USA.

This book presents a unique, feminist approach to ‘sex’ dolls and ‘sex’ robots, taking a critical look at the academic and business narratives that serve to rationalise them.

This book presents a unique, feminist approach to ‘sex’ dolls and ‘sex’ robots, taking a critical look at the academic and business narratives that serve to rationalise them.