Back in October last year, I highlighted the double standards in the media when it comes to AI porn and ‘AI erotica’. Actually, I was more specifically talking about the different media reporting on AI girlfriends and AI boyfriends. My article was in response to gushing coverage of ‘audio erotic fiction’ provider Bloom’s announcement that they were creating NSFW AI chatbots based on the male characters in their stories. Those ‘erotic’ stories are consumed almost entirely by women. Now a ‘MRA’ (men’s rights activist) who goes by the name of ‘CityCrusher’ has posted a video on YouTube in which he highlights those same double standards. As he puts it in his video description :
When Men choose A I girlfriends, we are losers and can’t handle real women. When Women choose A I Boyfriends, they are just exercising their options and ”You go girl!”
CityCrusher points out that when men choose AI girlfriends, it is bad for society, but when women choose AI boyfriends, they are simply making their choices. AI girlfriends have been linked by the media to an increase in ‘toxic masculinity’ and ‘incels’, as well as an increase in partner abuse and the objectification of women. They are also being blamed for, or feared as further hastening, the declining birth rates in developed countries. Compare all of this to an article that appeared in the ‘Japan Times’ a couple of months ago, entitled – “‘Better than real men’: Young Chinese women turn to AI boyfriends“. The article consists almost entirely of young Chinese women explaining why they prefer AI boyfriends, and how great they are. The only critical element in the article consists of the writer questioning whether the data privacy policies of the apps are sufficient. In other words, the only possible danger that AI boyfriends might pose, is to women themselves. Not to society, and certainly not to (real) men. Nowhere in the article does it mention that AI boyfriends might be the last thing that China needs when the country is facing a potentially catastrophic decline in the birthrate, (to say nothing of Japan itself). Meanwhile, in the West, a female Washington University professor gained widespread media coverage late last year when she claimed that AI girlfriends were a menace because ‘they would stop US men from making babies with real humans‘.
In fact, the first or second video that appears in YouTube search results for ‘AI girlfriend’ is a CNN video titled – ‘AI girlfriends are here and they’re posing a threat to a generation of men’. And of course, it features that same Washington University academic – Professor Liberty Vittert – warning of the dangers they pose to men, women, and even the future of the human race.
Well, the double standards may be rather sickening, but the undoubted popularity of AI boyfriends amongst women should be celebrated, as it means it is unlikely that governments will ban AI chatbot companions. Similarly, I can see that although 99% of ‘deepfake porn’ may be generated by males today, and hence countries like the UK now hurrying to make even the creation of it illegal, it may be different in another ten years. When you can not only make AI-generated explicit photos of celebrities but turn them into 3D virtual lovers in VR complete with AI chat and interaction, then I’m sure this kind of advanced ‘deepfake porn’ will be a lot more popular with women. Just as AI boyfriends are wildly popular among young women in South East Asia, so too is ‘erotic fan fiction’. This is the creation and sharing of pornographic adult stories featuring real-life celebrities, usually male K-Pop stars, largely by young female fans. When South Korea was passing anti-deepfake porn laws a few years back, there was a backlash from thousands of young South Korean men, who asked why should erotic fan fiction be legal if deepfake porn is illegal?
Featured image generated with PornJoy.ai
