During one of my twitter doom scrolls I stumbled upon a tweet posted by a man stating: “Prediction: By 2025, over half of the top OnlyFans accounts will be AI-generated models secretly run by men (none of the women below are real).” Along with this tweet was an image of AI generated women, all of whom were blonde, white and had large breasts. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at the ridiculousness of this prediction, and I saw tweets from other sex workers laughing at this absurdity. But as much as we can laugh, there is a lot to unpack here in terms of the response I’ve seen from men. Let’s talk about whether AI generated models taking over OnlyFans is something we need to worry about.
There have been a lot of shitty takes about this from specifically men on Twitter. Amongst others, the claim that we “take hours to create generic content” is insulting to say the least. When I was posting to OnlyFans, I took hours to create a diverse range of cosplay related content because I genuinely cared about the creative journey. I had a desire to feel pride in what I was producing, and I wanted my paying subscribers to receive content that they felt happy to spend their money on. Would they rather I rushed my content and posted half assed photos and videos? In saying that, even the more organically produced content I or other providers create is just as valid as the content we produce when we have the time, energy and money to invest in more highly produced content videos/photos. In fact, some subscribers prefer the home made style porn because it feels more genuine, personal and intimate. Not everyone is seeking high budget production porn, many consumers enjoy a personalised nude selfie or a POV video that filmed on an iPhone or Android camera takes 10 minutes to create.
A major takeaway from the AI model discourse is that it seems the vast majority of people (especially men) don’t understand why it is people seek sex workers services. The personal aspect that comes with supporting your favourite content creator is why platforms like OnlyFans have been such a success.
Custom content is already available without the use of AI models. Subscribers can message the content creators directly and request custom content. The vast majority of people who pay for porn do so because they are seeking a sense of intimacy and connection with their favourite porn stars. Many of my OnlyFans subscribers said they joined my OnlyFans because they got off knowing that they were supporting me directly. They enjoyed the fact that I knew their name, I took time to create custom content to suit their needs, and they could jerk off knowing that the person providing their pleasure was compensated ethically.
AI generated models take away that personal aspect that so many of our loyal subscribers are seeking. Many people are aroused by cartoon and CGI characters (I had a massive crush on Jessica Rabbit growing up), but that only serves the visual aspect. What a vast majority of porn consumers are seeking (beknownst to them or not) is a sense of human intimacy. AI is only good at executing tasks it has been programmed to do, it cannot, like AGI (artificial general intelligence), or a human, navigate unfamiliar tasks. AI as it stands now is really nothing more than a tool we can use to increase productivity. It is not capable of emotional engagement, therefore it is not a threat.
Another laughable idea is that AI generated models can provide more diversity. Are these men living under a rock? Or are they just viewing sex workers through an extremely narrow lens of what they think is desirable? Human beings come in a variety of shapes, sizes, skin tones and genders. The idea that real models have “only one look” is hilarious to me. When I scroll through the content I created when I had an OnlyFans, I look different in every photo. I’d wear wigs, coloured contacts and costumes. I can sculpt my face with makeup to create a vast spectrum of looks. I’ve subscribed to OnlyFans creators who use SFX makeup and body modification to create a multitude of looks that take hours to create. But the work that goes into it is what I find so admirable. And knowing that my subscription meant that the creator can afford more makeup, costumes and accessories to add to their looks is another aspect of the connection between OnlyFans subscribers and creators that AI models will not be able to provide. Any diversity it attempted would be false anyway. A CGI Black model isn’t a Black model at all.
The most disturbing aspect to this discourse is how gleefully excited people were at the notion that these AI generated OnlyFans pages would be run by men. This speaks to the root cause of a lot of mens’ hatred of women and femmes who are sex workers; they resent us for profiting off of the commodification of the male gaze. They are embarrassed at how much they desire our sexuality, and they feel emasculated that women and femmes can now profit from something they feel entitled to receive for free, if not profit off themselves. It’s no wonder men like Andrew Tate resonated with so many.
Through my sex work journey, I’ve found that a lot of men are struggling to know their role in modern society. Now, we live in a time where people are more visibly than ever, challenging the status quo we've all been conditioned to accept as ‘normal’, and a lot of cis-hetero men are freaking out over it. “Women can provide for themselves? Men are wearing makeup? That person says they aren’t male or female, so how can I put them in a box that suits me personally? If women can provide for themselves, where does this leave men?”
Alongside the more realistic and serious issue of further entrenched inequality through poorly considered and rushed AI products, a major concern I have is the risk that our content will be used to help create these AI models. While sex workers are largely left out of legislation concerning revenge porn, I can only hope the legal system will catch up on the front of copyright law.
As Violet Doll stated via her twitter: “Creators: If you see striking similarities in AI content published without your consent, please make sure you save it, back it up & send it to a friend to save too. The day will come where not just ethics, but the legality of use will come into question. These men aren’t creative enough to NOT steal content as they try to “replace” us. Save those receipts.” She’s not wrong.
Are there men out there who would pay for porn from an AI generated model? Absolutely. Do I think AI generated models will take over OnlyFans? Absolutely not. But as AI generated content rises, we as consumers of visual images need to be critical about the ethics behind AI generated content. Is this really the future we want for our society? To lose that sense of creativity, human connection and intimacy? Humans are social, creative and passionate creatures who crave connection. But the fact that there are people who are eager for this shift is very telling of how detached a lot of cishet men are from emotional connection. If anything, this whole discourse has just confirmed to me why the sex work industry is so important: we provide a sense of intimacy that a lot of people feel detached from in our modern technology driven world.
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