GBT: A lot of the infighting over free AI porn and similar tech has been about how we conceptualise social acceptability around them. A 2023 survey found that 68% of respondents were uneasy with the idea of AI-generated porn. This discomfort is for many reasons.
To begin with, AI technology is playing catch-up to the norms and regulations set in society. The AI porn business is an unregulated market worth over $1 billion. So there is no shadow of privacy, or care about the potential for misuse. Ethically, this is obviously very problematic: making pornography with anyone's likeness without their permission violates personal privacy and dignity. In 2018, for example, actress Scarlett Johansson spoke out against using her image in AI-generated porn and described it as a "living nightmare" and an act of "new sexual violence."
Also, the psychological affect of AI porn is huge. A 2022 paper in the Journal of Sexual Medicine found that "a sense of guilt and shame" occurs among more than half (53 percent) those utilizing AI-generated sexually explicit material. This is a conflict perhaps originating from within since consuming these narratives would necessary support the objectification of individuals, undermining genuine human relationships.
Critics also contend that making free AI porn available only trivializes sex and intimacy, turning some of the most meaningful facets of human life into nothing more than data points and algorithms. What about the effect on young people and how they see sex, relationship which is particularly worrying? A study by the American Psychological Association also showed that early exposure to explicit content could be damaging because it may create confusion on consent and closeness, which staffers say can lead to unhealthy relationship patterns later in life.
Nonetheless, those in favor of free AI porn say sexual liberation is one thing while misleading somebody else into sex or treating them as a dildo with ears to fuck and care nothing about otherwise entirely another. They say it might reduce the market for real-world exploitation and trafficking. This argument is, nevertheless undermined by evidence AI pornography could help to normalise extremely common conduct. According to one report published last week by the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, normalizing AI tale content could itself have a desensitization power that makes viewers more likely seek out harder forms of porn.
Like free AI porn, the legal landscape is no less controversial. Throughout many of these jurisdictions their laws are not quite up to par with the technology. Few countries even have laws that directly address AI-generated pornography, and those that do date back only around five years to 2024. That grey area in the law limits victims' avenues of recourse and can make it more difficult to bring predators like Smith before a judge.
This brings me to my final point, the ethics ofgoes far beyond legality and involves a myriad number of social dimensions including tarnishing your reputation before some feminists that were obviously not raised by feminist parents. This rapid pace of industry growth and slow response on the part of regulators is a double-edged sword: while there are massive potential benefits, they come with equally serious moral and societal concerns. How we steer through this changing terrain will fundamentally come down to a balance between giant technological leaps and consensus on what is right for both individuals as well as society.