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Humans driven out of the service industry
Here's another important implication of realistic, responsive droids: humans driven out of the customer service industry altogether.
I think that'll happen regardless of whether there are "realistic, responsive droids". It's already happening. You mention self-checkout aisles at the grocery - no droids there.
There's already been a noticeable drop in the use of humans to do a lot of tasks - assembly line work in particular. I recall seeing an article where a fast food chain (McD's maybe?) had built a prototype restaurant that had no staff - it was basically a big vending machine that cooked the food.
And it's not just minimum-wage work that's affected. Synthesizers have put a lot of musicians out of work, for example. It used to be that recording a commercial jingle required assembling a half-dozen or more musicians to play all the music and sing - now, one guy with a synthesizer does the whole thing. The whole green-screen/CGI aspect of movies has made cut-backs in the number of set construction laborers needed on movie sets, too.
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RE: Rape and Molestation
I'm not talking about having them simulate their preferred variety of victim or the scenarios they desire, just that they might be a therapeutic tool more patient, willing to face risks, and put up with such a person as they gradually bend them back to acceptable behavior.
Although you might be right. I've heard that pedophiles in particular have a dismal recovery record. On that, there's promise of early identification and correction with brain scanning. CBC Quirks and Quarks had a really good podcast on Neuroscience and the Law. For example, there is some evidence that brain damage in a certain region of the brain is what drives pedophilia.
As for prostitution, I think that the human variety will be driven out of business (and subsequent human trafficking) by lower cost droids, especially since they theoretically shouldn't pass on a disease to you. Additionally, if programmed correctly, it would end the urge for this type of behavior and this type of furtive behavior would be obviated. On the other hand, I guess some people get into the sneaking around aspect of it, but at least the human victims will be removed.
Here's another important implication of realistic, responsive droids: humans driven out of the customer service industry altogether. You already see "self-checkout" aisles at the grocery store and automated messages with your credit card company. I predict that advances in chatterbot technology will continue to gradually push people out of the lower tiers of the service industry.
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