Disruptive automation in the sex trade: part 1

This was all over the tabloids in January, when the establishment opened in Paris, but it only came to my attention this morning when the broadsheets carried the story (about attempts to close it down).

She seems rather .. quiet ..

From the BBC:

"Paris councillors are due to decide on the future of a business where clients are charged €89 ($109; £78) to spend an hour with a silicone sex doll, local media report. Communist councillors and feminist groups have been calling for the closure of Xdolls. Currently, Xdolls is registered as a games centre, but opponents argue it is effectively a brothel. Owning or operating a brothel is illegal in France.

Xdolls is located in an anonymous-looking flat in the French capital and opened last month. Clients are mainly men, though some couples also visit, owner Joachim Lousquy, who formerly managed e-cigarette shops, told Le Parisien newspaper. Xdolls has three rooms, each containing a silicone sex doll measuring about 1m45 (4ft 7in) and worth several thousand euros. Customers make their booking and payment online, and the exact address is kept secret. Not even the neighbours are aware of the nature of the business, Mr Lousquy says. ..

Lorraine Questiaux, lawyer and spokesperson for a Paris feminist association, says "that in France, every year, there are 86,000 women raped". "Xdolls is not a sex shop. It's a place that generates money and where you rape a woman," Ms Questiaux, who also wants the centre closed, adds."

Update: 23rd March. The enterprise has been approved by the Council of Paris.

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It's normal to see business productivity enhanced by increased automation. Admittedly the dolls seem to be far inferior in competence to human operatives but - as with all disruptive innovations - that will surely improve. Assuming no legal obstacles this would seem to be a growth industry, driving innovation by increasing effective demand.

I see the industry developing in two directions.*

At the bottom of the market the trend will be to maximise automation. You book on an app, your credit card gets you entry into a cubicle, you use the doll, you leave. An AI-camera checks to make sure you didn't break anything (they have your credit card details). A human cleaner** to prepare the next session - robots aren't yet good at dexterity.

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At the top of the market - for the middle-class consumer who needs euphemisms - I see a therapy centre. You make an appointment, you're greeted by a pleasant (human) receptionist-hostess and shown to an interview room where you engage with a smooth chatbot to determine your psychosexual profile.

You are then directed into a well-appointed room where you engage with the doll for your treatment. Afterwards you do a little post-encounter therapy back with the chatbot, perhaps over a drink, and you're done .. until the next session. Two employees on site: hostess and security guard/cleaner.**

The barriers to entry seem low and the business doesn't look a lot different to any other naturalistic, holistic, psychotherapeutic, new-age consultancy - from the outside. And it should only be a few years until the currently passive doll is upgraded into a fully-automated mobile and talkative sex therapist for an even better experience.

Next: Disruptive automation in the sex trade: part 2.

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* My examples are rather introverted. The collective sports/sales/stag/military markets could be served in conjunction with hotels, restaurants, pubs .. and the MoD.

** The guard/cleaner has a covert sideline in DNA samples for the police .. and journalists.