Book
The regulation of sex robots: Gender and sexuality in the era of artificial intelligence
This book presents a new framework for regulating human-like machines designed for emotional and sexual engagement, often powered by AI.
- Author
- Carlotta Rigotti
- Date
- 16 June 2025
- Links
- The Regulation of Sex Robots
While sex robots currently occupy a niche in the adult entertainment and technology sectors, they raise profound and complex issues that extend far beyond current debates. The prevailing narrative often frames them as either tools for societal liberation or as instruments of sexual commodification and user degradation. These polarized views mirror long-standing feminist discussions, leading to normative deadlock and overlooking diverse lived experiences.
The evolving legal landscape further complicates matters. Regulatory bodies, including the European Union, struggle to keep pace with these emerging technologies. Their tendency to assess innovations as products with hypothetical risks—through a detached, top-down approach—often fails to adequately address the intersectional dynamics of privilege and oppression inherent in these systems.
Carlotta’s book enriches this conversation by moving decisively beyond these binary narratives. It challenges the socio-legal construction of gender and sexuality, critiques regulatory inertia and morality policing, and advocates for a nuanced, context-aware approach to sex robot regulation.
Carlotta Rigotti, is postdoctoral researcher at eLaw. Her monograph, 'The Regulation of Sex Robots: Gender and Sexuality in the Era of Artificial Intelligence' builds on her PhD research. It features a foreword by Professor Clare McGlynn (Durham University). The book can be purchased on the website of Routledge.