“Is AI taking my job?” This question is so frequently asked, it seemingly re-sparks a new debate on social media every week. But there’s a joke that AI could never replicate porn for one reason: it can’t even figure out the concept of hands. For those unfamiliar, the hands are always a tell as they’re usually glitchy and as the AI model moves, it removes and adds extra fingers. Believe it or not, however, AI is already maneuvering the hand debacle and in the past year, deep fake porn has become the face of AI porn. From twitch streamers discovering deep fake porn of themselves while live at work, to the exploitation that drives the AI porn machine, it constantly misses the mark. Simultaneously, artists have been recommending methods to correct the system that could not only benefit them, but most importantly the ones who sell sex and sex appeal — sex workers.
The Artists Solution/Methodology
When the Lensa AI app went viral in 2022, everyone from that girl you attended high school with to celebrities like Megan Fox hopped on the trend. But like Megan Fox pointed out, the quick virality of the app was sickening for two major reasons: the overt sexualization in these images and the scraping of artists' work to inform the system. Whether you input a photo of yourself in a turtleneck or in lingerie, you’d come out on the other end looking like you just left the salon with a blowout – and a boob job. Nothing wrong if that’s what you're aiming for, in terms of sex appeal. To the public it’s only an app worth $3.99 USD. So to them, it’s harmless, cheap, fun. But to marginalized folks and the artists whose work was and is stolen, it’s harmful.
The quick virality of the app was sickening for two major reasons: the overt sexualization in these images and the scraping of artists' work to inform the system.
In the case of deep fake porn, which has gained much traction, the only take that matters is WiRED’s perfectly worded headline: “Deep Fake porn: a pervert’s dilemma.” From 2017, the year deep fake porn gained notoriety, researchers found that most deep fake porn was of women, and definitely not consensual. Now the system is running rampant and women are catching strays as men use this unethical porn for pleasure.
The plot of Black Mirror Season 6 Episode 1 is a great example as to why ethicality is needed. In the episode, a platform similar to Netflix, pulled live inspiration from a woman and within hours and sometimes minutes, used AI to adapt that ‘inspiration’ into a TV show. Joan clearly felt violated, shocked and concerned, doing everything in her power to sabotage the system. The episode became a gold mine for media think pieces as the character Joan did not knowingly consent. Across all think pieces, everyone understood how harmful the premise was – but the show, nor the articles, even begin to touch the topic of sexuality or deep fake porn.
So how do we rectify a system that’s already being unethically built?
Accountability
For starters, the inherent sexualization of these images points to the question of how? We now know through the spike in deep fake porn that the work of porn performers informs these systems. Which points to another pressing matter: were these sex workers compensated for their contributions? Throughout many countries, we witness sex workers experience criminalization for their work, whether experiencing jail time or actively being ignored by legal systems. Yet when it comes to inspiration, and the compensation that should follow, there’s never any discussion.
How do we rectify a system that’s already being unethically built?
The lack of compensation is increasingly problematic. Many people, especially women, suffer from the wage gap, join the porn industry for survival. For those who join the industry for pleasure, the same argument applies here as it does for artists and AI: Artists should be compensated for their contributions. If artists and performers are informing your system, a service has been rendered. In the world of porn and sex work, this is deemed a transaction and compensation is necessary. However, the lack of regulation surrounding AI enables exploitation.
The exploitation points to not only sexual violation but the violation of intellectual property, as porn is art and involves creative elements to create a scene, like creative direction, videography and actors. ChatGPT is currently being sued for data invasion and defamation, highlighting hope for those who want to speak out against AIs exploitation.
As you can understand; porn star or not, the system can be aggravating for artists and sex workers alike — some like myself argue they are synonymous. So what does this mean for the industry? Should we just roll over and accept AI’s standard of exploitation and deceit?
No. First, directly contacting sex workers and porn performers to ethically incorporate their artistry into AI systems is important. This means hiring them to create niche content that you’d like your AI to emulate, or paying to pull from their archives. Ultimately, whichever way one chooses: pay sex workers fairly and competitively.
What does this mean for the industry? Should we just roll over and accept AI’s standard of exploitation and deceit?
Working directly with sex workers also requires a safe work environment. Consider the type of model of sex appeal or porn you want to create as a product. Is it hot? great? Can it make you money and evolve to continue to do so? great. But does it negatively impact the future of porn? How will it change how we view sexuality? All porn should come with this responsibility, whether produced by AI, independently or by a production studio.
Deep fake porn, for example, is not for the betterment of sex workers or humans as a whole. Hiring a sex worker to inform a deep fake system would not be ethical, as deep fake porn has a history with use as a revenge tactic and the creation of non consensual materials, i.e. celebrity fakes. However, hiring a sex worker to create an AI model, for a generated “girlfriend experience” could be.
Finally, listen to sex workers. Listening to and working fairly with the source will help keep your business, or AI model, ahead. We are undoubtedly the blueprint.
Are you a sex worker with a story, opinion, news, or tips to share? We'd love to hear from you!
We started the tryst.link sex worker blog to help amplify those who aren't handed the mic and bring attention to the issues ya'll care about the most. Got a tale to tell? 👇☂️✨
