- the author, Nicola K. Smith
- the role, Technology Reporter
Later this month, people in Berlin will be able to book an hour with an AI sex doll as the world's first cyber room launches the service after a trial phase.
Users will be able to interact with the AI doll both verbally and physically.
“Many people feel more comfortable sharing private matters with a machine because it doesn't make the decisions,” says Philip Fusniger, founder and owner of Cyberthel.
“Earlier, there was significant interest in a doll with a voice actress, where consumers could only hear the voice and interact with the doll. Now, there is even more demand for interacting with artificial intelligence.
This is just one of many ways that generative AI is being used by the adult entertainment business.
Analysis by SplitMetrics revealed that AI companion apps reached 225 million downloads in the Google Play Store.
“I would expect more app developers to take note of this trend and consider ways to be more innovative and monetize this category,” said Thomas Kriebernegg, general manager of SplitMetrics.
AI companions can be profitable, says privacy researcher Misha Raikoff with Mozilla's Privacy Not Included guide.
“Given that most chatbots are charging fees, and the underlying technology is developed elsewhere [such as Open AI], it looks like a high margin business. Also, these apps collect personal data and often share it with third parties like advertisers – a tried and true business model.
image source, Jason Sheldon/Junction 10 Photography.
But the integration of AI and the adult entertainment business has raised alarm bells.
One problem lies in the bias inherent in generative AI, which generates new content based on the data it has been trained on.
Dr Kerry McInerney, senior research fellow at the Leverholm Center for the Future of Intelligence at the University of Cambridge, says there is a risk that retrograde gender stereotypes about sex and pleasure will be encoded into sexual chatbots.
“It's critical that we understand what kind of data sets are used to train sex chatbots, otherwise we risk replicating ideas about sex that women enjoy. minimize and ignore the sexuality that exists outside of homosexuality.”
There's also the risk of addiction, says Mr Raikoff, who says AI chatbots target lonely people, particularly men.
“Most of the AI chatbots we reviewed have a high potential for addiction and a number of potential pitfalls, especially for users with mental health challenges.”
Mozilla has added content warnings to a number of AI chatbots “as we found themes of abuse, violence and underage relationships,” Mr Rykoff says.
He also raised the issue of privacy. Partnership chatbots are designed to collect “unprecedented amounts of personal data.”
Mr Rykoff added that 90% of apps reviewed by Mozilla “may share or sell personal data”, while more than half of the apps would not let users delete personal data.
Others warn about the potential threat such AI could have on real-world relationships.
Tamara Hoyton, senior practice consultant at counseling service Relate, explains: “Some difficulties can arise if real encounters are too frustrating because they don't match the strictly defined requirements that users would experience in AI porn. are.”
Ms Heaton added that, in some cases, AI could lead porn users into dangerous territory.
“There's nothing wrong with a little fantasy, and many people wake up to ideas they have absolutely no intention of acting on. AI Purana can be seen that way.
“If this is crossed into an assumption of consent, for example, a sense of entitlement, or that everyone will be the one who turns you on, based on the user's experience of complying with the AI object, then it is a is the problem.”
image source, Getty Images
Companies using AI in the adult entertainment industry acknowledge that caution is needed, but maintain that AI has an important role to play.
Philip Hamburger, head of AI at Lovehoney, says the company aims to “enhance our customers' sexual experience rather than replace it, which is an important line to draw”.
Others believe that AI will have a positive impact on the sector. Ruben Cruz is the co-founder of Barcelona-based The Clueless Agency, which created one of the first AI influencers, Aitana Lopez.
He points out that the sex industry will always exist, and AI can help reduce ethical concerns by ensuring that content isn't created using real people.
“The purpose of this change is to ensure that no person, male or female, is explicitly sexually assaulted in the future.”