W. SCOTT LAMB: Humans should be able to marry robots?

By W. Scott Lamb - Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Will C-3PO one day be able to legally marry Princess Leia? Or even, Hans Solo?

Gary Marchant, professor of emerging technologies, law, and ethics at Arizona State University, penned a column for Slate on Tuesday that argues for the reasonableness of humans marrying robots.

In “Humans Should Be Able to Marry Robots,” Marchant admits the technology hasn’t yet arrived that would make this an option most people would want to take. But as the technical (artificial intelligence) and aesthetic (sex dolls) aspects improve with each passing year, Marchant is quite sure that the day will come when people will want to marry robots. And, given the recent Obergefell same-sex decision made by SCOTUS, he argues that there is no reason to refuse people and robots such a union.

He writes:

The path to recognition of robot-human marriage is likely to be equally, if not more, lengthy, torturous, and contested. But as the court emphasized at the close of its opinion in Obergefell, the issue comes down to the “fundamental right” of a person in a free society to choose the nature of the relationships and lifestyle they choose to pursue, providing they do not unreasonably harm others in exercising their choices. Robot-human marriage is not about robot rights; it is about the right of a human to choose to marry a robot. While few people would understand or support robot-human intimacy today, as robots get more sophisticated and humanlike, more and more people will find love, happiness, and intimacy in the arms of a machine. Robot sex and love is coming, and robot-human marriage will likely not be far behind.

Note that these are not alarmist “slippery slope” predictions made by someone from the right-wing. This is an argument being made by an advocate, by someone who predicts this may happen and argues it is reasonable and fitting—given the Obergefell hoops through which we’ve already jumped.

Stories like remind us more and more that the Judeo-Christian understanding of Imago Dei—that human were created by God and created in His image—must become an everyday part of our conversation.