Scheduled to commence later this month in Berlin, the world’s first cyber brothel will offer customers the opportunity to book time with AI sex dolls for an hour. These dolls will incorporate AI technology, enabling customers to engage both verbally and physically with them. This integration of AI adds a new dimension to the experience, blurring the lines between human and machine interaction in the context of sexual encounters. Critics and proponents alike are engaged in ongoing discussions regarding the ethical implications and societal impact of this development.
“Many people feel more comfortable sharing private matters with a machine because it doesn’t judge,” says Philipp Fussenegger, founder and owner of Cybrothel.
“Previously, there was significant interest in a doll with a voice actress, where users could only hear the voice and interact with the doll. Now, there is an even greater demand for interacting with artificial intelligence.”
It’s 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 look at ways this category can be further innovative and monetised,” said SplitMetrics general manager Thomas Kriebernegg.
AI companions can be lucrative, says Misha Rykov, privacy researcher with Mozilla’s Privacy Not Included guide.
“Given that most of the chatbots are charging fees, and the core technology has been 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.”
However, the integration of AI into the adult entertainment industry has raised concerns. One issue revolves around the inherent bias in generative AI, which generates new content based on the data it has been trained on. Dr. Kerry McInerney, a senior research fellow at the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence at the University of Cambridge, warns that there is a risk of retrograde gender stereotypes about sex and pleasure becoming encoded into sex chatbots.
“It’s crucial that we understand what kinds of data sets are used to train sex chatbots, otherwise we risk replicating ideas about sex that demean female pleasure and ignore sex that exists outside of heterosexual intercourse.”
There is also the risk of addiction says Mr Rykov, who says that AI chatbots target lonely people, notably men.
“Most of the AI chatbots we reviewed have high addictive potential and several potential harms, especially to users with mental health challenges.”
Mozilla has added content warnings to several AI chatbots “as we found themes of abuse, violence, and underage relationships,” says Mr Rykov.
He also raised the issue of privacy. Partnership chatbots are designed to collect “an unprecedented amount of personal data”.
Mr Rykov adds that that 90% of apps reviewed by Mozilla “may share or sell personal data”, while more than half of the apps won’t let users delete personal data.
Others warn about the possible danger such AI could have on real-world relationships.
Tamara Hoyton, senior practice consultant at the counselling service Relate, points out: “Some difficulties may come about if real encounters are profoundly disappointing because they don’t match up to the strictly defined requirements that users experience in AI porn.”
Ms Hoyton adds that, in some cases, AI porn could take users into dangerous areas.
“There is nothing wrong with a bit of fantasy, and many people get aroused by thoughts that they have absolutely no intention of acting on; AI porn might be seen like this.
“If it’s crossed over into an assumption of consent for example, a sense of entitlement, or that everyone will be what turns you on, based on the user’s experience of the compliance of the AI object, then it’s an issue.”
Companies utilizing AI in the adult entertainment industry acknowledge the need for caution but assert that AI plays a crucial role. Philipp Hamburger, head of AI at Lovehoney, emphasizes the company’s aim to enhance rather than replace the sexual experience of its customers, drawing an important distinction.
Others, like Ruben Cruz, co-founder of The Clueless Agency in Barcelona, see AI as having a positive impact on the sector. Cruz highlights that AI can address ethical concerns by ensuring content creation does not involve real individuals, aiming to prevent explicit sexualization of any person in the future.