18-6-2024 (SHENZHEN) In the heart of China’s tech hub, a pioneering company is pushing the boundaries of artificial intelligence, aiming to create interactive, AI-powered companions that could revolutionize the realm of intimacy. Starpery Technology, a major producer of sex dolls, is at the forefront of this endeavor, training its own large language model to enhance its products with unprecedented capabilities.
According to Evan Lee, the company’s CEO, “We are developing a next-generation sex doll that can interact vocally and physically with users, with prototypes expected by August this year.” However, he acknowledges the technological challenges that lie ahead, particularly in achieving realistic human interaction. “While simple dialogue is easy, creating interactive responses involves complex model development by specialized software companies,” Lee explained.
Traditional sex dolls, supported by a metal skeleton and a silicone exterior, are limited in their ability to engage in meaningful interactions, lacking the expressive capabilities needed to truly connect with a human. “The new generation of sex dolls, powered by AI models and equipped with sensors, can react with both movements and speech, significantly enhancing user experience by focusing on emotional connection rather than just basic conversational abilities,” Lee stated.
Starpery Technology’s ambitions extend beyond the realm of intimacy, with plans to develop robots capable of household chores, assisting people with disabilities, and providing aged care. By 2025, the company aims to launch its first “smart service robot,” capable of more complex services for people with disabilities. By 2030, these robots could be deployed in hazardous jobs, protecting human workers from potential harm, according to the company’s roadmap.
However, realizing this vision presents significant challenges. Lee highlighted two main obstacles: battery capacity and artificial muscles. “Unlike electric vehicles, humanoid robots lack space for large batteries, so for them to operate independently, the energy density of batteries must improve,” he explained. “Secondly, current engines lack the flexibility of human muscles, which can exert force over a wide range and can be both hard and soft, fitting closely to the skin.”
To ensure realism, the current generation of sex dolls can often weigh up to 40kg (88lbs), which is too heavy for the motors and poses a risk of falling or hurting the user. “Therefore, in the first stage, we focused on reducing the weight through improvements in materials and production processes,” Lee said, revealing that by July 2023, their 172cm-tall doll weighed just 29kg.
While the vision of robots capable of household chores is a societal aspiration, Lee acknowledged that its realization remains a long way off. “The entire industry will need about 10 years to achieve the goal,” he said.
Beyond the technical challenges, Starpery also faces cost and ethical considerations. Reducers, which transfer power between the motor and the robot joints, are key components in the mechanical system of humanoid robots and can account for up to 30% of the robot’s cost. “We strive to decrease the cost so that more people can afford realistic dolls, while adding motors will increase the cost [to] some extent,” Lee admitted.
Starpery’s dolls, which benefit from a complete supply chain and lower manufacturing costs in Shenzhen, are priced around US$1,500, while an advanced Harmony doll produced by Abyss Creations in the United States starts at US$6,000.
However, the integration of AI into physical dolls raises ethical concerns. AI-driven sex robots could blur ethical boundaries and reinforce harmful attitudes regarding consent and negative gender stereotypes. Criticism includes the view that overreliance on AI companions for sexual or emotional fulfillment might lead to less genuine human connection, affecting a user’s ability to form healthy relationships with real people.
The rapid development of AI-driven sex robots also outpaces existing legal and regulatory frameworks, leading to a legal grey area concerning their use, ownership, and the responsibilities of manufacturers and users.
In its 2023 paper, “Research Report on AI Ethics Governance,” the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology stated: “AI that can make decisions under certain conditions could challenge human autonomy and self-perception. Large language models also pose risks of data leaks and privacy violations, as information from users could become material for training generative AI.”
