Fingers crossed the annual congress avoids controversy of prior years.
Organizing a conference of any kind is often a big task. But when it comes to a conference on sex robots, you better be prepared to handle some extra complications and backlash.
So we wish all the best to the organizers of the Fourth International Congress on Love and Sex with Robots! The two-day event is set to take place at the University of Montana in Missoula, Montana, on December 13 and 14, 2018.
Let’s hope that this US location is more accommodating than previous choices. When the annual conference was first held in Portugal in 2014, it went off more or less unnoticed by the media and without any major problems. Unfortunately, this luck didn’t last.
Malaysian authorities shut down the Second Annual Congress on Love and Sex Robots in 2015 that was originally planned to take place in the country. It was deemed illegal since the sexually conservative Muslim nation considers sex with robots immoral, similar to its views against homosexuality. The event was canceled as a result and held the following year in London, England.
Then shortly before the third yearly sex robot conference was set to take place in December 2017, again in London, England, and at Goldsmiths University, the unthinkable happened. Co-organizer Adrian Cheok was tipped off to a terror threat from Malaysian police. Wanting to ensure the participants’ safety, the congress was reportedly moved to a secret location.
To learn more about the Fourth International Congress on Love and Sex with Robots, visit the event homepage here. There you can find more information on registration, how to submit papers for presentation, as well as details on the organizing committee and event topics.
Image sources: Fourth International Congress on Love and Sex with Robots
