We’re not Ready for AI Sex

What do you mean, “the algorithm asked for it”?

As soon as we have a new technology, we use it to make p*rn. Any rudimentary search on the printing press, radio, TV, and the internet proves this. In fact, the internet’s early success was likely due to the technology’s ability to propagate erotic images and videos.

Upstarts like ChatGPT and Midjourney are no different. As the “technology of the future”, generative AI will be used to make titillating, lubricious, and all-around explicit content. It is already being used to make non-consensual deepfakes. This, of course, is Not OK. But is milder AI-generated eroticism any better? Is it ethical to make a language model flirt? What about going beyond flirting?

Today, these questions concern fairly harmless digital chatbots, images, and AI-generated audio/video. Tomorrow, however, we’ll be talking about robotics and the metaverse. Sounds like a good time… in theory. Sadly, the current discourse fails to grasp the second-degree impact AI will have on sexuality. We’re not ready for AI sex—and may never be. Here’s why.

Artificial Intelligence erases what is unique about sex

Algorithms, no matter how impressive, are in no way sentient. The technology merely predicts what word is…