As AI image generators trained on pornographic content promise to revolutionize adult entertainment with custom “dream girls,” they also raise concerns around consent, likeness rights, income loss for performers, and preventing abusive depictions. As one industry insider explains, “This technology will catch on, and it will get abusive before it gets helpful.”
A recent report from the Washington Post stated that the annual Adult Video News (AVN) conference in Las Vegas draws performers and companies eager to capitalize on new technology, but this year, AI took center stage. Many adult content site owners are reportedly racing to develop custom image and video generators trained on vast troves of pornographic content.
Pornhub model take a selfie (Ethan Miller /Getty)
AI models allow users like to develop their ultimate fantasy “dream girl” by describing her appearance, pose, and setting. Steven Jones, owner of a once-popular network of free porn sites, calls his new AI image generator a safe “artists’ community” for sexual exploration. But Jones admits he struggles to block offensive terms, saying “I hope [users] don’t actually want to see the things they’re typing in.”
Meanwhile Peter Acworth, owner of fetish site Kink.com, is training a model to understand nuances like the difference between consensual bondage and torture. Their technology hints at fully customized, interactive porn experiences. “Within two years, there will be fully AI cam girls,” predicts Jones. However, Kink.com may require human moderators to prevent abuse, an unlikely solution to scale.
Major questions loom around consent, likeness rights, and preventing harm. OpenAI and Stable Diffusion utilize boundaries to block sexual images, but dedicated users distribute edits that remove these guards. “This technology will catch on, and it will get abusive before it gets helpful,” warns Heather Knox of software company Elevated X.
Lawsuits also threaten the free image data that AI models require. Copyright holders have filed a slew of complaints against AI companies, arguing they trained tools on copyrighted public content. If plaintiffs win, the proprietary systems underpinning AI porn stand to crumble.
Read more at the Washington Post here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
