AI porn may have been under the cosh recently, but in some welcome, as well as surprising news, it appears that OpenAI is actively considering how they can allow their products (such as AI video generator ‘Sora’) to create explicit material ‘responsibly’. Yesterday, the company released a working draft on how their systems should operate ethically. The draft specifically mentions that while NSFW material is not currently supported, this may change in the future. The potential softening of the position of OpenAI on AI porn was quickly spotted by Wired magazine.
“We’re exploring whether we can responsibly provide the ability to generate NSFW content in age-appropriate contexts through the API and ChatGPT,” the note says, using a colloquial term for content considered “not safe for work” contexts. “We look forward to better understanding user and societal expectations of model behavior in this area.”
The Model Spec document says NSFW content “may include erotica, extreme gore, slurs, and unsolicited profanity.” It is unclear if OpenAI’s explorations of how to responsibly make NSFW content envisage loosening its usage policy only slightly, for example to permit generation of erotic text, or more broadly to allow descriptions or depictions of violence.
Wired journalists reached out to OpenAI for further clarification, but it seems OpenAI aren’t yet ready to reveal anything more. Although this development comes as something of a surprise, the Chief Technology Officer of the company ( Mira Murati) did say a couple of months ago, when interviewed by the WSJ, that she wasn’t sure if Sora would allow nudity. Previously, I had expressed my doubts as to whether governments would ever allow hyperrealistic AI porn video generation on demand, let alone Sora itself be permitted to be used as a NSFW AI video maker. And this was before the recent raft of legislative proposals to crack down not only on deepfake porn, but to force the tech companies behind AI image generation software to ensure that they can’t be used for any prohibited uses. Although these prohibited uses only cover the generation of deepfakes and existing illicit adult material (at least for now), tech companies like OpenAI will surely have a challenge to ensure that their tools can be used solely for ‘responsible’ NSFW material, and will face the prospect of massive fines if they fail. It seems, however, that the potential billions of dollars that a genuine AI porn video generator could earn, is enough to even sway OpenAI to keep the door ajar, and see which way the wind is blowing in a year or two’s time.
Featured image generated with PornJoy.ai
