Waking up to my usual 8:00 a.m. alarm, I scrolled through Instagram’s home page in search of breaking news or original memes to start my day on the right foot. After a few minutes, my eyes finally stumbled on the picture I was looking for: Pope Francis wearing a white puffer coat, sunglasses and an imposing silver chain with a cross on its end. Never would I have expected that the Catholic Pope, the 86 years young supreme leader of the Roman Catholic Church, would rock the swaggiest of Balenciaga white puffer jackets. My mind was blown and so was the Internet’s.
In a heartbreaking manner, I quickly found out this reality was too good to be true. CNN, CBS,
The Daily Mail
and a plethora of other reputable news sources had pounced on the internet craze. They pointed out his distorted fingers, his seemingly floating coffee cup and the missing half of his chain. This image had been AI-generated by a 31-year-old Chicago man under the influence of psychedelics. The artificial intelligence image generator he used, Midjourney, is one among a growing number of ever-so-realistic AI-generators. Open to everyone and easy to use for the average Joe, AI-generated images have gained a global reputation for their inventive portrayals of former presidents, entertainment personalities and, obviously, religious leaders.
In my case specifically, falsely believing a picture of the Pope to be true had no devastating consequences on my well-being, aside from slight disappointment. Yet both actors and consumers of adult entertainment will need to tread with caution from now on. Catfishing, a form of identity theft in which one takes on various attributes of their designated victim, tricks bystanders into believing a made-up individual for their personal enjoyment. Pornographic sites are increasingly becoming breeding grounds for catfishing enthusiasts. With this phenomenon on the rise and the addition of AI-generated images gaining traction, online scammers might well be throwing a wrench into the world of XXX websites.
Across its history as a publicly accessible commodity of consumer America, online pornography has repeatedly intertwined with technological advances to make its user experience increasingly pleasurable. From integrated discussion boards to interactive chat rooms, the porn industry has time and again succeeded at offering its viewers a top-of-the-line adult content. Today, the introduction of AI images might well upend this multibillion dollar industry for the worse. A rise in openly accessible fabricated pornography would significantly undermine models’ and actors’ personal work and their demand for labor in that market. Not only would this replacement hurt male and female actors dependent upon revenue from the industry, but this brings into view a greater issue of female objectification, exploitation and copyright violation.
In 2017, the pornography industry faced a similar threat to that witnessed today. “Deepfake” creators used various computer-generated softwares to paste photos onto videos, most of them to be uploaded on XXX websites. With the click of a few buttons, anyone with baseline photoshop skills could manipulate and weaponize complete strangers’ pictures, opening the door to virtually uncontrollable harassment and humiliation. AI-generated images pose an extra layer of concern for potential victims. While “deepfake” creators were only able to edit already existing videos, AI software can create entirely novel photos by retracing the pattern billions of other images were analyzed with. Even more worrisome, AI-generated accounts on OnlyFans, a platform which mainly sells explicit photos and videos, have catfished users out of their money, ushering a new wave of porn scams costing hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Combined, consumers and actors of the adult entertainment industry have a daunting task to overcome if they wish to keep their reputation and wallets unscathed. Celebrities such as Natalie Portman, Emma Watson and Donald Trump have all seen their image damaged by “deepfake” porn montages in recent years. Allowing unsuspecting users to witness, and in turn believe, concocted sexual fantasies unbeknownst to the quote-unquote “actor” cross the boundaries of human respect and decency. No matter what, AI advances will play a continuous role in shaping the future of the entertainment industry, whether it be the world of pornography or not. This being said, cultivating an acute awareness of what constitutes an AI-generated image will prove worthwhile for users far and wide. Protecting both users and actors of XXX websites from the threat of ever-changing AI development will be critical towards saving personal lives and their respective reputations.