When some proposal succeeds on the internet, there is a very high possibility that there is an adult version of it. AIs like DALL-E 2 and Midjourney are no exception, as a recent report from TechCrunch reveals that There is already a website capable of generating pornography through an artificial intelligence tool. What could be the consequences?
Artificial intelligences capable of creating any text you write have already achieved impressive “skill”. One of them, in fact, has managed to get a designer first place in an art contest—although not without controversy. Of course, the images generated by these AIs usually have large distortions, then don’t expect anything different in the porn industry.
According to comments from the aforementioned source, the first time this technology for generating pornography through AI appeared was in 4chan Y Reddit. It happened after a member of the former leaked the open source code for Stable Diffusion, another artificial intelligence capable of generating images from text. Of course, users wasted no time, and they dedicated themselves to generating pornography.
The possibilities of artificial intelligence are limitless, but it is still replicating old models
The website in question has been baptized as Porn Pen, and offers an experience that was unthinkable until now. From there, you can customize to the models you want in the content. From their ethnicity, to the scenarios where they will be located. You can even change the perspective or point of view of the camera, being able to choose from selfie in the mirror, or a more professional photo.
That yes, until now, all the models are of women. In fact, Os Keyes, a doctoral candidate at Seattle University, told TechCrunch how disappointing it turns out that “both options replicate a very masculine and heteronormative look“I mean, even in the endless world of AI porn possibilities, it’s still limited to objectifying women for male consumption.
You Keyes too commented on his perception that this was “something that would inevitably happen from the moment DALL-E appeared”.
Of course, models are not people at all. The web hides under messages like “This person does not exist”. And it is that it is a technology that we have seen beforeand that can generate almost any human face, although it does not always seem the most natural thing in the world.
A user in Y Combinator Hacker News claims to be the creator of Porn Pen. He comments that has modified several parts of the code to avoid images that could offend sensitivities of some people. “I explicitly removed the ability to specify via custom text to avoid generating potentially harmful images.” In addition, it complements that new labels will be added soon when the algorithm is better calibrated.
What will become of the future of the porn industry?
Like music, graphic art or video games, pornography is one of the largest industries in the world, and also one of the most consumed. So while some painters wonder what their future will be like when DALL-E or Midjourney are the norm, actors and actresses have already begun to wonder what will become of their work when porn is so easy to generate and customize.
However, Ashley—cwhose last name has not been included at TechCrunch’s own request—, sex worker, believes that Porn Pen is far from threatening the porn industry. Or at least in its current state.
As he points out, “there is an infinite amount of content out there.” He also adds that “people differentiate themselves not by making the best content, but by making it accessible, and interesting. It’s going to be a long time before artificial intelligence can replace that.“.
Of course, Ashley is right. Porn Pen may find its audience, just like any other type of media. However, at the popular level, things are not likely to change much in the current scenario. In the future, however, we will have to continue to see how it develops, and how the intellectual property black hole that artificial intelligence represents will be solved.