Pornhub To Become An AI Generated Porn Site?

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While the 2023 AI porn revolution continues to steamroll ahead, it’s been noticeable that its standard bearers thus far have been largely or entirely independent developers and Patreon projects. The ‘big boys’ in the industry, such as Pornhub, appear to have carried on as though nothing has happened, despite themselves having completely upended the adult industry 15 years ago or so, with their own revolutionary ‘free tube’ porn business model. Not only that, but Pornhub was already using AI to colorize vintage pornos to much fanfare only a couple of years ago. Towards the end of last year, Google famously issued a ‘Code Red’ almost immediately after the potential of ChatGPT had suddenly taken the world by storm, fearing its entire business model (search engine advertising) was about to be overturned by rivals adopting the new tech. Surely the same kind of panic has taken place in the boardrooms of the big tube companies and adult studios, over the threat from AI generated porn?

Well according to an article in the New York Post that appeared without much fuss last month (I actually missed it myself), the potential of AI porn has already had an impact upon Pornhub – it has led to the tube site being bought out by another company. A buyout firm under the name of Ethical Capital Partners has acquired the parent company which owns Pornhub, and according to the New York Post, insiders with knowledge of the deal say it’s all about AI porn, and the potential it has to boost profit margins, whilst solving negative issues such as the inadvertent hosting underage or trafficked models.

In particular, some believe that human porn stars are destined to become a relic of the past – as outdated as the mustaches and perfunctory plot lines that riddled porn flicks in the 70s and 80s – and that they’ll be replaced by computer-generated stars.

“Every major piece of technological change is mastered by porn first: from VHS tapes to DVDs to internet video—all became popularized because of porn.”

“And now the same thing is happening with generative AI and deep fakes — buying this is a great way to get into this business before most porn is computer generated and dramatically reducing the costs of content creation.”

The source adds that in a few years creating pornography could cost almost nothing — and ECP could end up with an asset that requires little investment to run and generates significant revenues.

It certainly must be true, that any reputable company making such a huge investement in taking over Pornhub (and taking on its baggage), would have considered carefully the possible risks and benefits to the adult industry of AI generated porn. If indeed, they have chosen to acquire Pornhub and its network of sister sites, on account of the potential of AI porn to boost profits and reduce legal worries, then it still appears to be a huge gamble. Nobody knows yet what impact AI generated porn is going to have on the industry, and the market for porn. It’s my job here to keep up-to-date with the latest sex and porn tech, which I’ve been doing for nearly 20 years, and I can only guess at where we will be in only a year’s time, let alone a decade or two decades. Will people pay for AI porn? Or will the value of AI porn be chiefly in allowing the viewer to create his own porn fantasies? Will the existing industry that consists of real actors and actresses even be greatly impacted, as the vast majority of porn viewers may after all, always prefer the psychology of watching the real thing? Or perhaps the future lies in a combination of the two, with the images of real actresses being animated by AI in adult VR games that fulfill the personal desires of the viewer?

Secondly, there is also a huge question mark as to the ability of AI generated porn to wipe away all of Pornhub’s many legal problems. I’m sceptical of the suggestion that the use of AI porn, instead of real models, would get anti-porn campaginers – such as ‘Exodus Cry’ – off their backs. Most of these people do not actually want to end trafficking, they want to end porn – for religious or other motives. Yes, AI porn may give them less legal ammunition, but we are already seeing moral panics over AI generated porn. AI in general may enable tube sites to better identify trafficked or underage models, or illegal content, but Pornhub already led the way in that field, and it mattered not a jot to its enemies determined to take it down.

Of course, it’s possible, maybe even probable, that the individuals who have decided to make this massive investment in taking over Pornhub’s parent company, have been privy to something that PornHub was developing in regard to AI porn technology, and immediately seen dollar signs – millions of them – flash before their eyes. Perhaps Pornhub has already developed a photo-realistic AI porn video generator, that it plans to charge its millions of visitors to use? In any case, it does appear that the ‘big boys’ were not asleep at the wheel after all, and that it may be worth listening out for a big and exciting announcement from Pornhub very soon.

About xhumanist

Xhumanist has been writing on porn/sex tech for nearly two decades, and has been predicting the rise of VR and AR porn, as well as AI porn, and their coming together to produce fully 'immersive porn', which would be indistinguishable from the real thing, and create a society of 'sexual abundance'. He identifies as a digisexual, and has been quoted in Wired Magazine.

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