Page 32 - ARUBA TODAY

A32 FEATURE
Tuesday 16 January 2018
What robot strippers say about sexism, tech and the future

By BARBARA ORTUTAY and company CEOs — most
RYAN NAKASHIMA of whom are men. Tania
AP Technology Writers Yuki, CEO of the social
LAS VEGAS (AP) — On a analytics firm Shareablee
recent evening in Las Ve- and a speaker at CES,
gas during the CES tech- said she doesn’t think the
nology show, robot strip- show’s organizers are pur-
pers offered a window posely sexist, just trapped
into technology’s gender in status-quo thinking that
fault lines — not to men- worked for years. The
tion our robot future. dearth of female speak-
From a distance, the me- ers and the presence of
chanical humanoids on scantily clad show floor
a strip-club stage looked models are more “lazy”
something like real danc- than “deliberately offen-
ers in robot drag. But sive,” she said.
close up, they were clear- SEX AND TECHNOLOGY
ly mannequins with sur- (AND ART)
veillance-camera heads The robots are the work
and abstractly sculpted of artist Giles Walker, who
feminine chests, buttocks made them seven years
and backs, shimmying ago after he found two
and thrusting their boxy surveillance cameras
plastic hips. On one level, A pole-dancing robot built by British artist Giles Walker performs at a gentlemen’s club Monday, on a warehouse floor. “I
this was a classic Vegas Jan. 8, 2018, in Las Vegas. The event was held to coincide with CES International. wanted to do a sculpture
stunt, a cheap way for Associated Press about voyeurism and the
the club to cash in on the power between the voy-
presence of the world’s industry. Uber co-founder club nor its temporary instructed attendees, par- eur and the person who’s
largest tech convention. Travis Kalanick was forced robot workers. In a state- ticipants and hosts “to being watched, “ he said.
After all, the android to step down as CEO af- ment, organizers said they not have booth babes, Walker acknowledged
dancers weren’t really ter he fostered a startup do not tolerate “inappro- strippers, objectified, sex- that bringing the robots
strippers, since they wore culture rife with alleged priate behavior on our ualized women as part to the strip club for an un-
no clothes; in fact, they sexual misconduct. Sev- convention grounds or at of the ‘entertainment,’” disclosed fee has led the
were barely even robots, eral prominent venture official show events.” Un- said Cindy Gallop, a for- project astray from his
since they were tied to capitalists likewise left sanctioned events, the mer advertising executive initial vision. “I’m not go-
their poles and only ca- their firms following accu- statement said, aren’t turned sex-tech entrepre- ing to pretend,” he said.
pable of a limited set of sations that they’d made reflective of CES “or the neur. “They’re paying my bills
motions. unwanted sexual over- tech industry at large.” (CES policies do forbid and giving me the chance
But they still provided tures to female entrepre- CES AND WOMEN the use of escort servic- to do other art that I do
some striking parallels to neurs. Yet critics point out that es, though. CTA also says which is much less com-
the much bigger tech CES itself has long had a CES doesn’t do much exhibitors must be “suit- mercial and is much more
show nearby. The robots ably dressed” and bans underground.”
served a racy but utilitar- “inappropriate” displays, But his sexualized an-
ian function by drawing although it didn’t provide droids also point to a fu-
gawkers to the club, much further details.) ture in which robots might
the way provocatively CES participants didn’t not just take on many jobs
clad “booth babes” lure have to visit the club to now held by people, but
CES visitors to wares on come across the robots; are also likely to become
the convention floor. And images were prevalent companions — even inti-
they offered a glimpse of on social media searches mate companions, a sub-
futurism crossed with sex, for CES-related posts. Their ject that squicks out many
the sort of thing previous- presence during the show actual humans. Some of
ly provided by the porn reflects “a tone-deafness these robocompanions
expo that used to overlap about women and gen- are already here; high-
with the final days of CES. der within the industry,” end sexbots with ultra-
“I see robotic strippers and said Elizabeth Ames, a se- realistic silicone “flesh”
I see half-naked women Two pole-dancing robots built by British artist Giles Walker nior vice president at the and artificial-intelligence
on the showroom floor perform at a gentlemen’s club Monday, Jan. 8, 2018, in Las Anita Borg Institute, a non- personalities are avail-
promoting products,” said Vegas. The event was held to coincide with CES International. profit aimed at advanc- able online for as much as
Ashleigh Giliberto, a CES Associated Press ing women in the technol- $15,000.
attendee who works at a ogy business. As robot technology ad-
public-relations firm. “It’s boy’s club atmosphere. else to create a positive Executives from the Con- vances, that future could
like, aren’t we worth more Only about 20 percent of environment for women. sumer Technology Asso- get very weird very quick-
than that?” attendees this year are For instance, while the ciation, which oversees ly. For instance, academ-
TECHNOLOGY AND women; just two of the 15 convention prohibits sex- CES, have promised to ics are already wrestling
WOMEN keynote speakers at CES ual harassment and other “redouble” efforts to add with the ethical implica-
Last year was a water- are female, as are only a misbehavior, it doesn’t lay women’s voices to the tions of sexbots designed
shed moment for women quarter of the roughly 900 out its policies in a formal speaker lineup next year. to look like children, not to
speaking out against sex- total speakers. code of conduct for at- But those same officials mention practical ques-
ism and sexual abuse, The conference took tendees the way many have said they’re ham- tions such as whether
much of which reverber- pains to note that it has other large tech gather- strung by a policy that they might deter actual
ated through the tech no affiliation with the strip ings do. Neither has it ever restricts keynote slots to pedophilia.q