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Tag: erotica

  • AI Porn Is Here—and We’re All Pretending It’ll Be Fine

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    That’s right. We’ve arrived, people. AI porn is here. Get ready for it. Strap in.

    If you missed it, last week, OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman broke this news on X:

    “In December, as we roll out age-gating more fully and as part of our ‘treat adult users like adults’ principle, we will allow even more, like erotica for verified adults.”

    Merry Christmas. Happy Holidays. Here’s your AI erotica.

    This is something we all need to take seriously. Because once you break the seal on a societal taboo like this, the unintended consequences rush in. It’s like in that fairy tale when the Dutch boy stuck his finger into a leak in the dam, and that one small act saved the entire town from being flooded.

    That’s the choice that’s in front of all of us. Right now. 

    So let’s get weird.

    The OpenAI Erotica Move Is Tied To Mental Health – I’m Not Making This Up

    I honestly don’t care about your opinions on porn. You do you.

    My primary issue is the move to adult content and “erotica” (and can we all agree we hate that word?) is being rationalized as the logical next step now that OpenAI has cracked the whole “mental health issues” and “vulnerable users” thing.

    Yeah, we figured it out, folks. Solved it. No longer an issue. 

    “Altman seems to declare an early victory over these problems, claiming OpenAI has “been able to mitigate the serious mental health issues” around ChatGPT. However, the company has provided little to no evidence for this, and is now plowing ahead with plans for ChatGPT to engage in sexual chats with users.’”

    Raise your hand if you buy that excuse.

    Here’s what’s really going on.

    The Adult Industry Is Always Way Ahead on Tech

    This is common knowledge. Porn has been the cutting edge of tech since the early 1900s. I don’t know if that’s true, but deep down, we all know it’s true.

    In recent times, the adult industry has led the way on technical advancements like online credit card payments, streaming video, VR adoption, 1:1 video, multi-cam chat. Basically any tech advancement that you can think of that could be used for porn today was perfected by, if not invented by, the adult industry.  

    The reason for that is because the adult industry, more often than not, actually wants to do things the right way. Because if they don’t, no one will want to take on the risk of working with them. Because the backlash for doing things the wrong way can be severe. The adult industry isn’t being altruistic, but they know the swamp they’re sprinting through. 

    These AI nerds do not.

    Adult AI Was Always Going To Happen

    Because it’s already been happening. 

    You don’t have to give the adult industry billions of VC dollars, or the best technical minds, or killer products, or viral marketing campaigns. Porn finds a way. 

    And OpenAI and the rest of LLM companies now find themselves three to five years behind on the porn front, with a lot of the shady players already using their tech in ways that OpenAI and them boys can’t—yet.

    From the TechCrunch article: “The introduction of erotica in ChatGPT is unchartered territory for OpenAI…”

    First of all, it’s “uncharted.” It’s always “uncharted.” There is no charter for this kind of thing, but of course that makes me think of a secret dirty society meeting in a back room to discuss which kind of porn is OK and where to draw the line at kink-shaming. 

    And second of all, the hell it is.

    How do I know? Because duh. If you don’t think that every single engineer, male or female, straight or otherwise, young or old, does not have a plan in the back of their minds for, let’s call it, intimate AI companionship… put your hand down, Doris! You’re not fooling anyone. 

    OpenAI and them boys need to get out ahead of erotica before society catches up. Here’s why.

    Where Adult AI Is Heading

    Once you let the cat out of the taboo bag, society moves fast. 

    For example, what started out as nerd-rific stratomatic baseball became fantasy football became daily fantasy sports became sports betting apps and now the sports betting industry is controlled not by Caesars and MGM casino conglomerates, but by daily fantasy pioneers DraftKings and FanDuel. 

    The similar chain that links adult content is just as sneaky a coup. Facebook to Tinder to OnlyFans to AI relationships, which doesn’t work unless you can eliminate the middle man and still go “all the way.” 

    Thus, OpenAI needs “erotica” more than PornHub needs AI.

    So here we are. And it’s a damn good thing there aren’t any more vulnerable users using AI because… 

    If You Think AI Is Bad Now

    Wait until they put adult content control into the hands of the customer. 

    We just did this with OpenAI Sora2, and that got real bizarre, real quick. And not to bring this back up, but to show my cred in this slimy space, I mean, the Omegle kid shut down his entire enterprise, stating very clearly that the cesspool its user base was creating with his neat little tool was uncontrollable and became something not worth enabling.

    Free expression be damned, he could no longer defend the worst kind of human behavior.

    I can assure you that’s exactly what’s going on with AI in the unregulated, dark corners of the internet – the worst kind of human behavior.

    And while the vulnerable users issue is indeed the most important, it is not the most critical, because unlike the vulnerable users issue, this issue can’t be “solved” and papered over.

    If we don’t have hard, fast, strong gates around the adult side of AI – in every sense of the word “adult” – it will bring out the worst tendencies in the worst people. And it won’t stop with “erotica.”

    From the article: “It is unclear whether OpenAI will extend erotica to its AI voice, image, and video generation tools.”

    Oh please.

    Please, please, please tell me how they plan to combat user-generated celeb porn, revenge porn and much, much worse. 

    They don’t. They never do. Because those “consequences” are “unintended.” They allow people to opt out after the damage has been done. 

    Why are we still operating like it’s 1999, and nerds like me weren’t worried about this because the only people using the internet were nerds like me? Leisure Suit Larry? Ha ha! Sure. That’s cute. What’s the harm? 

    I’ll tell you what the harm is. Lifelike AI companions that will obediently do whatever some sicko tells them to. And an infrastructure that is notoriously terrible at making sure a person is who they say they are. Oh, and a society that can’t stop splitting itself into two sides that only exist to hate the other side.

    So yeah. Let’s “treat adult users like adults.” What could possibly go wrong?
    Join the good clean fun of over 10K tech professionals on my email list. It gets a little racy after 10pm.

    The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

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    Joe Procopio

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  • 8 Magical Graphic Novel Gift Ideas for Any Type of Reader | The Mary Sue

    8 Magical Graphic Novel Gift Ideas for Any Type of Reader | The Mary Sue

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    All last month we were putting out holiday gift guides—and now it’s time for some graphic novel gift ideas! This one took me the longest because I take gift-giving (all times of the year) very seriously and love, love graphic novels. Therefore, it is hard to narrow all these suggestions down. Graphic novel memoirs are literally my favorite genre of stories, and if you mix in a little fantasy or horror, I’m sold.

    Below are graphic novels that were released in the last year or so and would make great gifts for friends, co-workers, and loved ones. These are mostly for general audiences and adults, but they range in maturity level, so these are organized from the safest for work to the least safe for work.

    The Legend of Auntie Po by Shing Yin Khor. Image: Kokila.
    (Kokila)

    As a 2021 National Book Award Finalist in the Young People’s Literature category, this isn’t exactly a hidden find. However, that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t make a great gift, especially for those interested in folk tales and American history. This story follows a young girl and her family working at a logging camp in 1880s Nevada as tensions are getting worse for the immigrant community following the Chinese Exclusion Act. One way the main character, Mei, and others process these transitions is by telling stories—like her take on newly forming folk heroes.

    Unretouchable by Sofia Szamosi. Image: Graphic Universe.
    (Graphic Universe)

    The premise of this story is relatively straightforward: a recent high school grad finds herself in a high-profile fashion magazine internship the summer before she starts college. While it hits the expected beats suggested on the cover regarding body image, social media, and advertising, it doesn’t feel as preachy as it could be. Instead, the story leads with empathy and honesty. It’s also a much needed update on how media-induced body dysmorphia has changed in the last 10 years. This is a great gift for those who shudder when they look at their screen time.

    If you want a sneak peek at the comic, check out this interview I did with Szamosi.

    The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen. Image: Penguin Random House.
    (Penguin Random House)

    Inspired by the author’s childhood, The Magic Fish features three overlapping stories that center on identity, family, and magic. In between reading fairy tales together, Tien is struggling to tell his mother that he likes boys, and his mother is grappling with feeling disconnected from her homeland in Vietnam. Between the coloring and creative storytelling, The Magic Fish is easily one of my favorite books I read this year. It’s one of those books I will obnoxiously put in people’s faces because it’s that good. The book is often found in middle-grade parts of stores and libraries, but is great for all ages.

    Lore Olympus: Volume One by Rachel Smythe. Image: Random House Worlds
    (Random House Worlds)

    This is for that person who loves mythology and love stories. Or, better yet, one of the hundreds of thousands of Rachel Smythe fans enthralled by her retelling of Hades and Persephone. In this version, the young goddess is training on Mount Olympus to be a sacred virgin. However, plans go awry and promises are at risk of being severed once she meets the King of the Underworld. If you’re feeling extra giving, volume two was released earlier this year.

    Fantastic Four: Full Circle. Image: Harry N. Abrams/Marvel.
    (Harry N. Abrams / Marvel)

    I could just tell you to look at the cover, and there’s all the reasoning you need because it’s mesmerizing. This is an all-in-one Fantastic Four story in which parasites invade the Baxter building. With traces of Negative Energy, the group decides to travel to the Negative Zone, putting their lives and the universe at risk to find who—or what—sent these creatures. Although the story is a licensed sequel (produced outside of Marvel), it feels like it’s totally part of the 616 Fantastic Four. While the story is not too intimidating to newcomers, the psychedelic art and paneling are a little experimental.

    Wash Day Diaries by Jamila Rowser & illustrated by Robyn Smith (Image: Chronicle Books)
    (Chronicle Books)

    Speaking of this year’s faves and books where the creators were interviewed at TMS, Wash Day Diaries is a must-consider book. The story follows four best friends during a wash day as each one is dealing with issues of family, love, and mental health. I don’t think it’s for everyone, but certainly perfect for those that like slice of life narratives, stories about friends, and self-love. This book will make you smile and might make you cry.

    Smut Peddler Presents: Sordid Past
    (Iron Circus Comics)

    This entry into the Smut Peddler catalog features 13 stories of erotic historical fiction spanning thousands of years. Many at TMS have been fans of different Smut Peddler novels and anthologies (like this book) for years. After reading Patience and Ester, I joined the chorus, too! While you can get this on Bookshop, it’s also available on the publisher’s website as a DRM-free PDF (meaning you actually own it) for a discrete and eco-friendly reading experience.

    Simon Says: Nazi Hunter Volume 1. Image: Image Comics.
    (Image Comics)

    This is a very violent story, so it’s going below the fun erotica. While Simon Says is making the list because it’s a genuinely thrilling story of a Nazi Hunter right after the end of WW2, I’m also adding it because I’m selfish (I know, the opposite of the holidays). This graphic novel was released in 2019, and there’s been no part two—even though it had a wild cliffhanger! If more people read it, they will also want to ask the publisher to invite the artist back to continue the series. Or, at the very least, bring us some closure and tie up loose ends. This is a great gift for those into detective stories and history, especially entering the Cold War era.

    Honorable Mentions

    (featured image: Penguin Random House, Harry N. Abrams / Marvel, and Iron Circus Comics)

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    Alyssa Shotwell

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