sexbot

The concept of man–machine relations is older than you may think. In ancient Greek mythology, the blacksmith god Hephaestus created living beings out of metal called automatons. In addition to creating various animals, Hephaestus also designed automatons of beautiful maidens that “attended” to him at Mt. Olympus. We see what you’re up to, Heph.

Many centuries later, machines that resemble human beings, or androids, have become a common trope in science fiction, though we can find descriptions, speculations, and attempts at various automata throughout medieval and early modern history.

The specific word sexbot is a blend word of sex and robot in its shortened form of bot. By at least the 1980s, some science fiction authors had conjured up sexbots in their plots while others mused on the ethics of the matter. More recently, sexbot has been used by some critics to describe sexual machines and AI programs in works like Bladerunner 2049 and Westworld. The works themselves don’t actually use the word sexbot, however.

In the early  2000s, the sexbot became reality with the development of complex, responsive sex dolls. These dolls are sometimes called sexbots, though the term has been used with a mocking tone.

With the rise of social media in the 2000–10s, sexbot has been used to refer to automated chat or spam programs that pretend to be attractive people in order to lure the gullible to adults sites or infect them with malware. These sexbots are based on an internet bot, a program designed to perform some action automatically. They may be spambots, designed to push out spam, or chatbots, which churn out a script.

so excited to see I have a new follower. :D only to find out it's a sexbot. :( wah, wah, waaa. yep, still a dork.

— mokeyc (@mokeyc) January 15, 2010