Carlotta Rigotti, postdoctoral researcher at eLaw - Center for Law and Digital Technologies, has published a new article, Desire in Code: Legal Perspectives on Sex Robots and Consent, in Law, Culture and the Humanities.
The paper was first presented at the Legal Technologies and the Bodies conference and later selected for a special issue. It forms part of Carlotta's ongoing research on the regulation of gendered technologies, focusing here on the intersection of sex robots, rape, and sexual consent.
Designed primarily for a cisgender, heterosexual male market, sex robots risk reinforcing women's subordination and oppression. Their ability to simulate consent further complicates their legal and societal positioning. While prohibition has been suggested, the article explores regulatory alternatives that integrate affirmative consent into design. In particular, it examines the potential of the AI Act and its provisions on codes of conduct to shape such developments.
The article is available open access at the website of Sage Journals.
