This week, OpenAI revealed that it is considering allowing users to “responsibly” generate AI porn. Currently, the coding for the program does not allow for the creation of explicit images and text. A document released on the company’s rules for its products, however, stated that, “We’re exploring whether we can responsibly provide the ability to generate NSFW content in age-appropriate contexts,” NSFW being an acronym for “not safe for work.” “There are creative cases in which content involving sexuality or nudity is important to our users,” said Joanne Jang, a model lead for OpenAI who helped develop the document.

The decision to loosen restrictions on explicit content could come at the cost of a variety of ethical dilemmas. Some people are worried about the job market; Kyle Wiggers from TechCrunch writes, “It’s tough to make a living in adult content, and were OpenAI to take AI-generated porn mainstream, there’d be even stiffer competition facing creators — competition built on the backs of those creators’ works, not for nothing.” On the other hand, I wonder if the creation of AI porn could minimize the demand for the exploitation, abuse, and trafficking of real women and children that happen because of the porn industry; this too, could come at many costs, such as an even more drastic, widespread, sexualized view of women. Others are concerned about the advancement of deepfakes, especially after AI-generated nudes of Taylor Swift went viral on X this year. “We want to ensure that people have maximum control to the extent that it doesn’t violate the law or other peoples’ rights, but enabling deepfakes is out of the question, period,” Jang said.

As Christians, how can we respond to the news of OpenAI’s possible allowing for AI porn? Currently, there seems to be no reason to boycott the service. AI is a tool that can be used for good as well as for evil. It can generate ideas for redemptive businesses and give easy access to instructions, strategies, and insights of all kinds. There appears to be risk of seeing porn on the service without intentionally creating it. That said, OpenAI is not necessarily a safe site for young children to be on. Not only may it be able to generate explicit images in the future (and it may not be able to keep children out of this despite the claim that it will be for age-appropriate contexts), but it can provide advice—even moral, ethical, and religious advice—that may not be in line with the Christian worldview. In addition to keeping the site from young children, anyone who struggles or has struggled with viewing porn in the past may also want to avoid or block the site in the future to avoid the temptation to create explicit images. Prayer is also an essential response for Christians. Online porn has become increasingly prevalent, and we can expect the situation to become much worse—hopefully before getting better. We must pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ who struggle with addictions, for our children to be in a better situation than my generation (Gen Z), and for our witness to others, that we can offer hope and joy greater than any online image could ever offer.

https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/10/this-week-in-ai-openai-considers-allowing-ai-porn/

https://www.npr.org/2024/05/08/1250073041/chatgpt-openai-ai-erotica-porn-nsfw