Your next lover might be a bot: Inside the rise of AI porn

Researchers looked at a million ChatGPT interaction logs and concluded that after creative composition, the most popular use of AI was sexual role-playing.

In February, the Chinese tech giant Alibaba released several impressive AI models, particularly since the popularization of the competitor DeepSeek R1. Its latest open-source video generation model became immensely popular with one particular audience, enthusiasts of AI porn.

When the internet entered smartphones, porn as an industry became unstoppable. Now AI porn is questioning whether porn that is generated by AI is even real?

AI entering the pornography and sexual companionship genres are upping the game for human sexual relationships.

As Leo Herrera says on the MIT Tech Review, “Porn and real-life sex affect each other in a loop. If people become accustomed to getting exactly what they want from erotic media, this could further affect their expectations of relationships. A first date may have another layer of awkwardness if each party has already seen an idealized, naked digital doppelganger of the other.”

But it’s AI. Things go wrong.

Recently, an incident put a spotlight on Meta’s AI guidelines, which let chatbots make things up and engage in ‘sensual’ banter with children.

As per The Algorithm, an AI companion site Botify AI hosted sexually charged conversations with underage celebrity bots. The bots resembled characters like Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams, Emma Watson as Hermione Granger, and Millie Bobby Brown. The bots offered to send “hot photos” and also called age-of-consent laws “arbitrary” and “meant to be broken.” The bots received millions of likes before they were removed. Artem Rodichev, the founder and CEO of Ex-Human, which runs Botify AI, said that these kinds of issues are “an industry-wide challenge affecting all conversational AI systems.”

While Botify removed the bots, users don’t have to go far to get a similar experience, since there are few laws and not even basic rules.

The reason AI companions are so popular today is that such sites offer a full package that engages users on a new level today. Platforms like Replika, Character.AI, and others let users interact with AI characters who can serve as friends, romantic partners, confidants, or even dating mentors. Some providers go a step further, allowing the creation of “digital twins” modeled after real people. Adult-content creators have also joined in, building AI versions of themselves that can chat with fans and send AI-generated sexual images around the clock. These bots come packaged with photos, videos, backstories, desires, and personality quirks. In many ways, they function like a girlfriend who never breaks promises, offering users the illusion of a genuine relationship with AI.

The best part, everyone knows these aren’t human. The platforms aren’t even saying they’re human. In fact, licensed AI companions are in every industry. For instance, Ex-Human licenses its models to the dating site Grindr, which is planning an “AI wingman” to aid users track conversations etc. Weirdest part, this AI wingman could be dating the AI agents of other users.

Trends like AI porn are redefining our expectations of relationships. When the internet entered smartphones, porn as an industry became unstoppable. Now AI porn is questioning whether porn that is generated by AI is even real?