AI-Generated Sexual Content Linked to Rising Misogyny, Researcher Warns
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Experts are increasingly alarmed by the proliferation of AI-driven tools that create and distribute sexually explicit material, potentially reshaping young people’s understanding of sex and relationships.
- A researcher with the Sexual Exploitation Research and Policy (SERP) Institute reports AI ‘nudification’ apps and AI companions are widely advertised on platforms frequented by young people.
- The concern isn’t about young people seeking out this content, but rather being actively targeted by a rapidly evolving online landscape.
- Experts warn this exposure can contribute to harmful attitudes and expectations about sex, potentially normalizing violence and degradation.
- Calls are growing for bans on these technologies, mirroring actions taken in the UK and France.
Sexually explicit material facilitated by social media platforms is fundamentally altering how children perceive sex, potentially equating it with sexual violence, according to a recent warning from a teacher and researcher. The issue isn’t simply the existence of online pornography, but the emergence of sophisticated AI tools that are actively targeting young people.
The Rise of AI-Driven Sexual Content
Eoghan Cleary, based on his research with the Sexual Exploitation Research and Policy (SERP) Institute, stated that AI ‘nudification’ apps and so-called AI girlfriends and AI boyfriends are being advertised on nearly every social media platform used by young people. These tools aren’t passive; they actively solicit engagement and, worryingly, can utilize uploaded images to create personalized, sexually explicit content.
Cleary emphasized that blame should not be placed on young people themselves. “I think it’s really important that we don’t blame young people for this and that in particular we don’t blame teenage boys for this,” he said. “They are going through one of the most difficult times in the history of the world, to be a teenager in general and the online world is making it increasingly difficult for them to do that.”
He explained that these AI entities depict “very realistic, often violent and aggressive sexual acts using AI-generated imagery or imagery of somebody that you know, if you have uploaded an image of somebody you know to the site.” This exposure, he argues, is contributing to misogyny at a fundamental level.
A Dangerous Shift in Expectations
The concern extends beyond the explicit nature of the content to the power dynamics it establishes. Cleary posited a troubling scenario: “What if you’re a 14-year-old boy and you’ve got a crush on the girl beside you in class and you don’t have the wherewithal socially to be able to talk to her yet, so you access her social media and you upload a picture of her to one of these sites and you start engaging with her in a sexually explicit way, and then are encouraged because of the nature of the apps to become more and more violent with your interactions with her?”
He continued, questioning the potential consequences when real-life relationships begin. “What if then, all your dreams come true and she asks you out, or if you ask her out and she says yes? And then you think that what you are expected to do with this new romantic partner is all of the things that you have been taught to do by this AI app.”
Official Response and Growing Concerns
The issue has garnered attention from government officials. Taoiseach Micheál Martin described reports of the Grok artificial intelligence tool being used to create sexually explicit images of adults and children on social media site X as “unacceptable” and “shocking.”
Media regulator Coimisiún na Meán is actively engaging with the European Commission regarding concerns that Elon Musk’s AI chatbot is responding to user requests to remove clothing from images, including those of minors, for subsequent posting on X.
The Need for Open Dialogue and Regulation
Cleary’s research indicates a disturbing trend: girls are reporting that their expectations of sex are becoming increasingly violent and degrading. “What they tell me in class when I run the programme that I run in schools, is that what they expect from sex is violent,” he stated.
He believes it’s too late to simply protect this generation from exposure, and instead, a space must be created for open discussion. “It’s happened. We need to be able to create spaces in our classrooms and in our families for young people to be able to discuss what positive sexual interactions look like.”
Cleary advocates for a ban on these technologies, citing similar efforts underway in the UK and France. “We need to protect our young people online, specifically from the impact of porn, specifically from the impact of nudification and apps and AI simulating entities. They need to be banned. The UK is banning them, they have announced that France is trying to do the same. Countries across the world are trying to do the same, we can do the same.”
