Almost from the first day of the generative-AI revolution several years ago, cheeky memes started spreading on social media claiming that it was now “over for women” – at least in terms of male attention. Back then, such memes often involved AI-females with 6 fingers, and so were more of a joke than an imminent threat. But in the space of just 3 or 4 years, AI image generators have advanced to the point where not only are extra limbs or digits now rare, flawless and stunning videos can now be made. And now a new study has discovered that heterosexual men may already be preferring AI-generated nudes to nude photos of real women.
The study involved 649 adult Czech participants of various ages, the vast majority of them men who identified as being attracted to women, and was published in Archives of Sexual Behavior. AI-generated nudes were compared against real photographs across four subjective measures: realism, aesthetic appeal, sexual attractiveness, and valence (pleasantness). While real images were still perceived as the most realistic, AI-generated images outperformed them in every other category.
What the Study Found
The comparison yielded the following specific results:
- Realism: Real photographs were rated as significantly more realistic than AI-generated nudes. However, AI-generated images were rated as significantly more realistic than all other artificial categories, such as CGI, dolls, and hentai.
- Aesthetic Appeal: AI-generated nudes were found to be significantly more aesthetically appealing than real photographs.
- Sexual Attractiveness: Participants rated AI-generated images as significantly more sexually attractive than real ones.
- Valence (Pleasantness): AI-generated nudes were rated as significantly more pleasant than real images. Both real and AI-generated images were the only categories to receive a “positive” valence score (above 3 on a 5-point scale), while other categories were neutral or negative.
Proposed Factors Influencing the Ratings
The study noted several demographic trends regarding how these two categories were perceived:
- The “AI Superiority” Paradox: Researchers observed that AI-generated erotic material appeared “superior” to real photographs in generating appeal and attraction, despite being recognized as less “real”. This may be due to the sharp visual resolution and the ability of AI to create an idealized appearance.
- Age: Older participants rated both real and AI-generated nudes as more aesthetically appealing, sexually attractive, and pleasant than younger participants did. Additionally, older individuals perceived AI-generated images as more realistic than younger participants did.
- Gender: Men generally gave higher ratings than women across all categories for both real and AI images. However, there was no significant difference between men and women in how they rated the aesthetic value of AI-generated images specifically.
AI Will Only Get Even Better – Is it Over for Women?
As AI Industry leaders and experts often like to say when trying to convey the inevitable progress of the technology – this is the absolute worst that AI will ever be. This applies to AI-generated women, and not only images, but also AI companions. Given that the study, published this February, was likely conducted last year, AI images have already improved. The researchers gave their own take on why AI the images were considered more sexually and aesthetically pleasing – it was because of the “hyper-idealization” of generative-AI. What that means is that AI can simply now create images of women that are more beautiful and perfect, and yes, sexually attractive, than real women. And this is the worst it will ever be. It should also be noted that the participants in the study were simply shown random, pre-existing AI-generated photographs. Imagine how much greater the preference would be if they had created the images themselves to their own personalized tastes.
However, if you’re a woman reading this, perhaps it’s not quite over yet. I received an email today that the AI Companion site “Cuties.ai” was closing. This was an attempt by one of the biggest live webcam companies in the world-behind the massively popular “LiveJasmin.com” site-to break into the AI girlfriend market. And they, it appears, have discovered that their clientele, at least, still prefer the real thing.
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