The insanity of Virtue Ethics - a virtous sexbot should be able to refuse sex from it's 'owner' The popular rise of sexbot has taken a new twist - the sexbot should have the right to refuse sex.   So, is it rape if the sexbot refuses yet the owner continues?     Is it likewise domestic abuse not to recharge the sexbot's lithium-ion battery pack and leave it in a dark closet for extended periods of time?  Why doesn't a vibrator have the same rights as it's more evolved relative?      The researchers state it would help in the "Cultivation of Compassion".  One can not be compassionate with "something" that has no soul, life or essence.  Unborn babies deserve compassion, the sick, the homeless and the elderly deserve compassion but not a toaster or table lamp.  How can society kill unborn babies that are deemed worthless and propose the rights of an appliance?    A peer-reviewed paper recently published in the International Journal of Social Robotics argues that sex robots should be programmed to decide whether or not they consent to their owner’s sexual advances.    University of Wollongong PhD student Anco Peeters and Radboud University Professor Pim Haselager say that the move would help the “cultivation of compassion.”    Like consenting humans, a robot and its human partner will have to communicate carefully about the kind of interaction that will take place,” Peeters and Haselager write. “And like in a relationship between humans, this communication could potentially result in the robot sometimes not consenting and terminating the interaction.”    In other words, these academics believe sex robots — inanimate objects designed solely for sexual pleasure, like a dildo — should be able to stop sexual interactions at their non-existing will.    https://lulz.com/peer-reviewed-paper-sex-robots-consent-4482/