The two most common thoughts we have while watching Westworld is first, would we go there ourselves if we could afford it, and second, what would we do while we were there?
Would we relax on our “real world” morals a bit? Does it matter at all if it’s just a made up world? What’s the difference between killing a robot and killing a character in a video game like Grand Theft Auto or Call of Durty? All these questions made us curious what everyone else would do.
We took a survey of 1,455 self-described fans of HBO’s Westworld, asking them the following questions:
- Would you travel to Westworld if it was reasonably affordable?
The survey then filtered the “Yes” responses and asked the following questions:
- Would you play a white hat or a black hat while in the park?
- Would you kill a robot host in the park?
- Would you have sex with a robot host in the park?
Below you will find the responses for each question, with a few of our favorite comments left by respondents.
Would you travel to Westworld if it was reasonably affordable?
| Yes | 71% |
| No | 20% |
| Not Sure | 9% |
 
Respondent Commentary:
“It sounds like an amazing experience. I might want to see what other types of parks are available too, like something in space. But the idea of something so immersive would be awesome.”
“Yes, to interact with A.I. like that would be crazy.”
“No, creepy, so so creepy.”
“Does my wife get to see what I do in there?”
Would you play a white hat or a black hat while in the park?
| White Hat | 61% |
| Black Hat | 35% |
| Not Sure | 4% |
 
Respondent Commentary:
“Just like in video games, I would probably start out trying really hard to be a good guy, but occasionally it might be fun to do some of the evil missions.”
“I would want to be the hero.”
“If I went more than once, trying both sounds fun.”
Would you kill a robot host in the park?
| No | 51% |
| Yes | 35% |
| Not Sure | 14% |
 
Respondent Commentary:
“Not really much worse than playing a video game like GTA, right?”
“I’m not sure I could handle the realism. If it looked like I was killing someone, I have to imagine my brain might struggle with how real it feels.”
“I probably wouldn’t set out to kill a host, but if I was on an adventure and the scenario called for it, yeah, I would.”
“Yeah, without thinking twice. It’s all fake, who cares.”
Would you have sex with a robot host in the park?
| No | 65% |
| Yes | 26% |
| Not Sure | 9% |
 
Respondent Commentary:
“Sure, why not.”
“Do they clean the robots after each person has sex with them? I haven’t seen that explained.”
“No, but probably only because people think it’s weird. If it was more socially acceptable, then yeah totally I would.”
Survey methodology:
We polled 1,455 US-based self-described Westworld fans using third party survey services. These results were all captured online. The audience was anonymous, we did not ask for any personally identifiable information and we believe this likely created more honesty in responses. The response percentages are all considered (+/- 2.5%).