Most people outside of Silicon Valley can recognize a hierarchy in the value of artificial intelligence. At best, it produces a similar effect to the 19th-century invention of the dishwasher: It does the grunt work humans don’t like to free them for more creative or enjoyable tasks. But now AI seems to be taking over the creative world, with major newspapers inadvertently permitting AI-hallucinated books to slip into their summer reading lists and talent agencies vying to sign Tilly Norwood, a young British actress who doesn’t really exist. Yes, you guessed it: She’s AI, too.
The AI creep continues. Worse than overtaking the arts, it’s now hoping to encroach upon a more intimate space: your bedroom. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced on X this week that at the end of the year, “as part of our ‘treat adult users like adults’ principle,” ChatGPT will allow “erotica for verified adults.” Perfect, just what we need!
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What on earth Altman could possibly be thinking is a good question. Right up there with “How will he ensure that children are prevented from accessing this feature?” (he can’t) and “Is he trying to distract from the scandal this summer where ChatGPT allegedly helped a teenager kill himself?” (he most certainly is). This announcement also comes just months after Meta AI was exposed for having no guardrails against engaging in sensual conversations with minors.
Of course, as AI explodes in popularity, it makes sense that its developers would have it attempt to mimic the world’s oldest profession. Even putting aside the imminent and disturbing question of how this feature could affect any children with access to the internet, the introduction of “sexy AI” is going to influence relationships in ways we may not yet anticipate.
“Is It Cheating If It’s AI?” wondered The Cut last week. “Is Your Partner Cheating on You With an AI Sidepiece?” questioned Cosmopolitan the month before. In an article titled “People Are Cheating on Their Partners—With AI,” an author at Vice offered the depressing observation that “we’re past the point of asking whether AI belongs in relationships. It’s already in them.”
The internet is always offering new forms of pornography, from OnlyFans to the lewd imaginations of AI chatbots. But a majority of singles do believe that a sexual or romantic relationship with AI constitutes cheating, according to a study from DatingAdvice.com and the Kinsey Institute. And it’s not a harmless avenue that is likely to keep people from more “real” cheating, either.
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“The available research shows that most people who use AI for romantic or sexual reasons are not seeing AI as a replacement for human relationships,” psychologist Justin Lehmiller told Cosmopolitan. “This means that people who are willing to cheat on their partners are likely to continue doing so with other humans, even when AI partners are available.”
Yet, many young people are comfortable with replacing human relationships with something more data-driven. The Institute of Family Studies revealed last year that 25% of young adults think AI could replace real-life relationships. This type of romantic, or at least sexual, interaction is already incredibly popular. “After analyzing 1 million ChatGPT interaction logs, a group of researchers found that ‘sexual role-playing’ was the second most prevalent use, following only the category of ‘creative composition,’” the institute reports. Every day, storylines from science fiction media, from Black Mirror to Her, look more like reality. To avoid becoming a cautionary tale, it’s best just to log off.
