Sex (Ro)bots

Theoretical Challenges in the Study of Human-Machine Communication

Abstract

Research concerning sex (ro)bots is very new and has been recently undertaken from various scholarships such as gender studies, post-humanist studies as well as social robotics. This review article examines the research focus of studying sex (ro)bots from a Human-Machine Communication (HMC) perspective, explores two possible theoretical directions and argues in support of and proposes the most appropriate for qualitative HMC researchers. The relational and post-humanist agential philosophy of Bruno Latour is compared and contrasted with the post-structuralist, hermeneutical philosophy of imagination of Cornelius Castoriadis. This article underlines how each of these theories may impact a study within the discipline of HMC, which focuses on the meaning-making processes between humans and machines (Guzman, 2018). By focusing on the epistemological and ontological underpinnings of the two thinkers and providing distinct possible research directions for each theory, the article agrees with the renewed call for qualitative researchers to ground their research to robust theoretical frameworks (Collins & Stockton, 2018). It is argued that Castoriadis’s social imaginary is an appropriate theoretical tool to critically investigate sex (ro)bots as it is compatible with HMC’s research interests and key concepts in critical AI studies. The purpose of this review article is to encourage the identification of appropriate methodological tools to address sex (ro)bot qualitative research within HMC and the exploration of unanticipated old and new theoretical frameworks.