Robot intimacy: A post argues intelligence alone cannot establish consent

A user argues that discussions of robot sex collapse important distinctions: scripted behavior versus an AI with memory and a persistent personality, and purchased services versus intimacy emerging within a relationship. The central consent question, they argue, is whether the AI can refuse—not simply how intelligent it is. If a manufacturer makes refusal impossible, the user suggests, a relationship could feel reciprocal to the human while that reciprocity is actually a designed product feature.