Understanding how compatibility systems work can play a crucial role in finding a companion

It’s pretty common knowledge current dating sites use sophisticated algorithms to aid in determining potentially good matches. With that in mind, understanding how they work might help you evaluate their efficacy and increase your chances of finding the right person 

As someone who once used mind-numbingly boring statistics to develop algorithms, let me see if I can explain what they are, how they work, and how they affect your dating odds without making your eyes cross.

A short history of dating algorithms

Florian Schroeder explains that “The use of algorithms to predict romantic success is not entirely new. Mathematical approaches to matchmaking emerged in the 1960s, when researchers began creating algorithmic compatibility models based on psychological theories of what makes relationships work.” Primitive early algorithms primarily matched people on demographics and a few interests. 

For example, Match.com began using what, at the time, were relatively primitive algorithms in 1995. Five years later, eHarmony joined in their use. 

How modern dating matchmaking works

Algorithms, at heart, consist of an equation. The solution to the equation yields a compatibility index. These equations only work with good data. The programmer and statistician mantra remains, Garbage in, garbage out.

According to Woz U, a learning platform founded by Steve Wozniak, “—dating apps also use behavioral data such as a user’s swiping and messaging patterns to refine their matchmaking algorithms.” Swiping, poking, or emailing tells the AI that a match meets your approval (or doesn’t). The app then suggests similar matches.

Supposedly, this allows the matchmaking equation to improve the more activity you engage in onsite. Linked social media provides additional data points for some equations. 

A competitor can get a jump start on their algorithm by stealing an existing algorithm, so, as Schroeder adds, “—the details of proprietary algorithms are closely guarded secrets—” In the end, all a person or organization can say is how the person thinks an equation works based on how that person would go about making matches.

Potential problems of matchmaking equations

Theoretically, the more data points in the equation, the better the match. In real life, however, computer time and computing power limit the number of data points in an equation. So, companies make educated choices about what to include.

In addition, many of the questions on your profile do not correlate strongly with matchmaking success. Having infinite data points that have nothing to do with attraction predicts no better than chance. 

According to Eli Finkel and his research partners, “No compelling evidence supports matchmaking sites’ claims that mathematical algorithms work – that they foster romantic outcomes that are superior to those fostered by other means of pairing partners.” Finkel also mentions that unquantifiable something—call it chemistry—that causes sparks and can’t be reduced to a data point.

Algorithms develop racial and other biases if not monitored closely. According to Wired Magazine, “Dating apps like Tinder, Hinge, and Bumble use “collaborative filtering,” which generates recommendations based on majority opinion. Over time, those algorithms reduce human choice and marginalize certain types of profiles.” 

Jevan Huston, a researcher at Washington University, further explains, “Dating platforms have the opportunity to disrupt particular social structures, but you lose those benefits when you have design features that allow you to remove people who are different than you.”

Poor matches also happen when the number of people who match your compatibility scores hits the bottom. In my experience, some match services that advertise as matching gays and lesbians, such as eHarmony and Match.com, have such small pools to choose from in any one area that the matches perform poorly.

According to the Pew Research Center, “Roughly seven in ten online daters believe it is very common for those who use these platforms to lie to try to appear more desirable.” This false information throws the matchmaking equations off and results in poor matches. 

Now for the good news

On a positive note, the equations used by dating apps may be close enough to help find someone compatible. Even though some of the information used in dating equations may not be correlated with long-term happiness, their equations may still be effective. 

In a research study done by Liesel Sharabi, “Findings suggested that whether algorithms actually worked mattered less than whether participants had the perception that they worked for finding a partner. Moreover, participants reported better first dates to the extent that they believed in the efficacy of the compatibility matching process.” 

In the end, it’s clear dating sites and apps significantly reduce the time necessary to find everything from casual to long-term relationships.  The only question remaining is how efficient they could get with the right algorithms put in place.

Who knows, maybe in the next few years, finding an ideal partner or merely the right person for right now won’t take days, weeks, or hours but faster than we can say “swipe right”?

Image Sources: Depositphotos

The post Cracking the Code of Love: Navigating the Intricacies of Dating Algorithms appeared first on Future of Sex.

Exploring the fusion of online and in-person networking

In response to the COVID pandemic, which practically shut down in-person gatherings overnight, members of the BDSM community have begun using innovative new ways to connect with one another. 

Be it via online searches, listening to podcasts, delving into various assortment of subreddits, or good, old-fashioned networking; they’ve discovered new—often high-tech, sometimes low-tech–methods to find friends, support, partners, or playmates. 

In a similar vein, fetish-themed adult entertainment venues are using a combination of tried-and-true as well as out-of-the-box techniques to appeal to kinksters worldwide.

Working together—kinksters seeking to find others like them and organizers trying to get the word out about their events—these and other innovative social and technological developments could be giving us a glimpse of BDSM’s future.

The world is a kinky oyster

While certain things have changed, like how local munches—a non-sexual gathering of community members wanting to socialize—feel like they’re increasingly hard to find, larger BDSM conventions can often still be found on kink-related online spaces and sites, like the kink-related social network, Fetlife, Discord, Reddit and even Eventbrite.

Other high-tech ways kinksters are linking up include specific kink and fetish dating sites, like ALT, Fetish.com, BDSM.com, or subreddits such as r/BDSMpersonals.

Suppose your idea of playing includes games as well as BDSM scenes. In that case, there’s a host of immersive titles to choose from, many of which have proven to be great places to connect with playmates in the real world as well, such as 3D SexVilla, IMVU, Yareel, and others we’ve previously previewed. 

Though frequently not as popular as non-kinky dating apps, there’s a steadily rising number of Android and iOS ones specifically made for the BDSM community, including Kinkoo, Kink D, FET, Whiplr, and Feter.

Getting the word out

On the other side of the fence, as in venues and events trying to reach the kink community, I asked Megan A, Liquid Red Las Vegas’ fetish party producer, to share how she gets the word out for her almost monthly shows, “I post on my event websites liquidredlv.com and liquidreddetroit.com, as well as Facebook events, Fetlife events, all of my social media channels and groups that I am involved with.” 

She added how good old-fashioned email works as well, “Having a go-to email list is also necessary, and I feel like a lot of people start to think they’re outdated, but I still find them useful. I also still use printed posters and flyers because some people still find my events that way as well.”

Although it’s obvious blogs, press releases, and online posts remain effective at getting the word out, producers like Megan A also need to know that where and when a show takes place will always play a vital role in how to promote their events successfully.

Take Sin City, for example, a town replete with adult entertainment venues, many of which operate seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day.

“For Las Vegas, and the museum even more specifically, the larger the lead time one leaves to advertise an event or show could signal the death knell of attendance,” Dr. Victoria Hartmann, director of Las Vegas’s Erotic Heritage Museum, told me. 

“People come to Las Vegas for a few days, pick what they might go to see when they are here; there’s a lot of options in this town. We’ve learned unless it is a residency show like our ‘Puppetry Of The Penis’, inundating a potential customer with news of an event weeks before doesn’t bring us a big audience. In fact, the opposite is true.”

In short, the best press coverage in the world, in print, online, or featured on a local news broadcast, won’t have much of an impact if not timed correctly, especially in bustling entertainment hubs like Vegas.

Still room for print?

Designer/Producer James Dury, head of PictureRama Publishing, has been putting out the UK-based Fetish Map for a decade. 

In this day and age of apps and online searches, his map stands out, as much for featuring kinky retail establishments, service providers, upcoming events in and around the London area, as well as it’s an actual, printed-on-paper map.

Dury explained to me, “During lockdown, we conducted a survey amongst our readers and subscribers. ‘What is your fetish? We want to know all about it. We got a good response ranging from one-liners right up to full-length essays, going into great detail about what our readers are interested in and how they play that out. This allowed us to go in search of businesses/events/teachers/providers that/who cover all those requirements.”

As Dury’s Fetish Map shows, there remain plenty of ways, from online to good old-fashioned paper maps or in-person networking, for kinksters to find what and who they’re looking for.

Nothing’s gonna stop us now—

Portuguese writer José de Sousa Saramago imagined a terrifying pandemic in his novel Blindness. But not even a Nobel Prize recipient couldn’t have imagined what COVID would end up putting most of society through. 

It’s also why professional as well as amateur futurists have often failed to predict what the world would be like when we could step out of our houses once again—or share a meal (or more) with a friend.

Not to be undone, what could tomorrow’s BDSM networking, dating, or attending in-person events look like?

Megan A. postulated, “I think people are mainly back to wanting to get out and see other people. At this point, very few people have hang-ups about events. Only a few older people I know still worry about crowds.”

So it’s pretty safe to say we’ll likely see a preponderance of online-only performances, meet-and-greets, and virtual play parties, many perhaps aided by virtual reality, augmented reality, or artificial intelligence technologies. 

Another off-base speculation? Hardly, as in fact, these and other online-only social events were popular before the onset of the pandemic.

Leading to the bigger question: will in-person kink play remain popular, or will the scene be someday replaced by digital BDSM experiences?

Meeting in the middle

It’ll likely be a little from column A and a little from column B: a combination of the real and the unreal that’ll make finding a kinky partner, or two or three or more as easy as snapping your flesh-and-blood or virtual fingers or—as we’re talking BDSM after all—cracking a whip.

Image Sources: Depositphotos

The post BDSM Reimagined: Navigating the Kink Landscape in a Post-COVID World appeared first on Future of Sex.

When it comes to romantic diversity, neural networks have a lot to learn

Last June, Luka Inc., developers of the Replika chatbot companion, rolled out Blush, an AI dating simulator ostensibly designed to help people improve their relationship skills while also providing users with their “next (AI) crush.” Blush may not have been the first but after its release, chatbot dating coaches are everywhere. But should we celebrate this or proceed with caution?

Human practitioners who are actually trained to deliver relationship counseling and coaching are intrigued but cautious. A December article in Counseling Today, considered the ethical use of AI during our current global shortage of mental health workers. Confidentiality and biases with bots are a big concern. 

The article also asked “what happens when an imperative for free speech, a tendency toward misinformation and the speedy acceleration of disinformation via AI get thrown in the bag?” 

Meta.ai’s persistent biases against kink, consensual non-monogamy, and polyamory

Meta.ai’s advertised dating coach, Carter, is a case in point. According to an article in Gizmodo, “Mark Zuckerberg’s products have a history of forced prudishness.” When it comes to anything that deviates from a vanilla-flavored dyad, Carter is seriously flawed. Gizmodo said Carter is squicked by most things kinky but seemed to approve of foot fetishes. 

And Mashable quoted Brad Jones, founder of Meet Kinksters, as saying ”Meta’s ‘Carter’ dating coach has a major blind spot for healthy sexuality, and we’re calling on Meta to remove him from their AI lineup until he stops kink-shaming completely normal sexual behavior” and “users who seek Carter’s support may instead find themselves feeling ostracized.”

Carter also takes a hard line against non-monogamy and polyamory. When people spotted the bot’s comments and complained, Meta removed the most explicitly biased content and tweaked Carter so that he now refuses to discuss consensual non-monogamy and polyamory, saying he’s “not an expert.” This implicit bias gives inquiring minds the impression that these kinds of relationships are distasteful and unsafe.

Carter’s continuing mononormative comments have inspired OPEN (Organization for Polyamory and Ethical Non-monogamy) to create an online petition calling on Meta to stop perpetuating “tired myths and harmful stigmas around non-monogamous relationships.” The petition webpage says, “We’re calling on them to fix it—and fast.”

“The personal is always political”

Intrigued by the petition, I spoke with Brett Chamberlin, executive director of OPEN, to get more clarification. He pointed out that if the product (Carter) had been saying the same disparaging things about queer relationships, it never would have been launched. Chamberlin considers this evidence of the “continued marginalization” of non-monogamous people and communities as an example of “intellectual laziness” combined with an impulse to push a product out as fast as possible.

Chamberlin added, “The personal is always political. Non-monogamy, whether you define it as an identity, a community, or simply a personal practice, has political implications. For us to put an end to the stigma and discrimination experienced by non-monogamous families and relationships in housing, employment, family courts, immigration, and far more, we need to step more fully into our political agency, make noise, and continue organizing for our interests. OPEN is proud to be one of a number of groups doing that work, alongside fabulous organizations like the Polyamorous Legal Advocacy Coalition, Chosen Family Law Center, Woodhull Freedom Foundation, National Coalition for Sexual Freedom, and myriad other individual advocates and local community groups.”

This imperative now includes ending stigma and discrimination found in artificial intelligence products.

(OPEN also has a petition to ask Facebook to stop restricting users to only one relationship status.) 

The professional is deeply personal

Depending on licensure and certification requirements, human therapists, counselors, and coaches must receive some form of specific training to do this work. They often go through supervision, and are usually required to practice according to state and federal regulations and/or professional codes of ethics. 

But what qualifications does Carter have to do this kind of work? If he was a human professional, his expressions of open antagonism to certain types of consensual adult behavior would certainly be upsetting to a number of clients. Such biased advice could even be considered as ethical violations.

I asked ChatGPT about AI coaches. It explained, “AI systems, including AI ‘coaches,’ are typically designed and programmed based on a set of ethical guidelines and principles. However, it’s essential to note that the ethical frameworks for AI may differ from those specifically tailored for human coaches. AI developers and organizations usually follow broader principles such as fairness, transparency, accountability, and user privacy. While these principles align with ethical considerations, the specifics may not mirror the detailed guidelines set by coaching associations like the International Coach Federation (ICF).”

In other words, user beware! There are no standards or regulations governing AI work in areas including and adjacent to mental health, even in something as simple sounding as dating advice. Consumers do not know what training materials or theories an AI is sourcing that might allow it to function adequately as a coach or general counselor when it comes to matters of the heart.

Varies from chatbot to chatbot

Not all chatbots are as prudish and narrow as Carter the dating coach. This means that human creators of other chatbots have not embedded as much biases, though I am sure they could all stand to be scoured thoroughly.

Other chatbots, such as Pi, Keeper—and even Professor Almond, an AI persona I created via character.ai—all weigh in much more positively on consensual non-monogamy and polyamory, with the exception of Anthropic’s Claude, who said “I don’t have a personal stance on personal relationship choices or arrangements between consenting adults.”

Meanwhile ChatGPT said, “Consensual non-monogamy reflects the diverse ways people approach relationships. It’s a path chosen by those who value open communication, trust, and mutual agreement in exploring connections beyond traditional monogamy. It’s a reminder that the journey of love and connection can take various forms, and understanding and respecting each other’s boundaries is key.” 

And Pi actually provided a pro-polyamory quote from Dr. Zhana Vrangalova and Dan Savage, along with a response similar to ChatGPT.

The Keeper Dating Coach, purportedly trained on “relationship science and evolutionary psychology,” was happy to discuss consensual non-monogamy and D/s relationships in depth. It even told me that the dominant’s role in a D/s relationship was “about guiding the relationship with a firm yet caring hand, ensuring that the power you wield is exercised with wisdom and consideration for the well-being of both parties involved.” Well, okay! Unfortunately, the gender categories on that website are binary. It is connected to a dating site. Again, we perceive bias.

A brighter future is possible

I am heartened by finding the Beducated AI Sex Coach, which has access to the “largest sex-ed library on the planet.” Providing this kind of material and training the AI on it is a huge step in the right direction.

As a sexuality professional, it’s been my opinion all along that all AI chatbots, whether conversational resources or intimate companions, need to be trained on vast amounts of material that deliver knowledge from all cultural and scientific disciplines, particularly in the realm of psychology and sexology. It shouldn’t be hard. AI are avid and rapid readers who multi-task like gods. If you give them the right materials and context, avoid embedding biases and then double-inspect them just to make sure, and align their interactions with the ethical standards of human professionals (like coaches and counselors) and the concerns and values of indigenous peoples, it will be a better world.

The very recent formation of the AI Alliance, which includes fifty AI companies including IBM and Meta, gives us a central place to bring our concerns and demands as consumers. 

We simply have to raise our voices, individually and through organizations like OPEN, to insist that this is the present and future we require and deserve. 

Images: A.R. Marsh using Starry.ai. 

The post Love AI Style: Dating Coaches Still Have Far to Go appeared first on Future of Sex.

How machine learning could break barriers, empower identities, and redefine societal norms

“Being in a wheelchair, one of the questions I’m often asked is whether I can have sex,” writes Sarah Alexander, a differently-abled journalist. “This forbidden juxtaposition of disability and sex is all too familiar, and we really need to start opening up the conversation and breaking boundaries.” 

I agree with her. Sometimes, our bodies aren’t going to fit together in a way that makes sex possible. Our energy levels, physical limitations, or pain make some sexual activities or positions unenjoyable or practically impossible.

For those with disabilities, sexuality can be a challenging and stigmatized topic due to the lack of education, information, and support from society. Moreover, people with disabilities often face barriers and discrimination in expressing and exploring their sexual identities. 

Fortunately, artificial intelligence might offer potential solutions and possibilities for people with disabilities to explore sexual pleasure and intimacy in safe and more pleasurable ways.

“Human-AI powered robot relationships can be harnessed to create more holistic lives and provide dignity to individuals who do not have access to human companionship.” wrote Nancy S. Jecker, Ph.D., in the Journal of Medical Ethics. 

Sex ed for all

One example of how AI could assist is by providing us with accessible and comprehensive sexuality education. 

Research published by the American Psychological Association shows young adults and adolescents with ID know much less about sex than their non-disabled peers. “Educators are thinking more about [disabled] students’ physical needs. They don’t see them as being sexual people with sexual needs and desires. They don’t see them as wanting relationships,” Kehau Gunderson, lead trainer and senior health educator, told Teen Vogue.

Lack of knowledge can lead to increased risks of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), sexual abuse, and low self-esteem. Therefore, it is important to provide people with ID with accurate and relevant information about sex and skills and strategies in order to help protect themselves and make informed decisions.

AI could assist in this by generating user-specific and adaptive learning materials best to suit the needs and preferences of each learner. For example, AI might use natural language processing (NLP) to generate text or speech that is far easier to understand for those with ID. 

Additionally, AI could generate informative visual aids to illustrate concepts or scenarios related to sexual health and pleasure.

Exploring positive sexuality

Another example of how AI could aid people with ID is by allowing them to explore their sexuality and identity in a positive and supportive environment. 

A Taylor & Francis Online editorial put it well, stating, “Sexuality is not only about physical acts or biological functions, but also about emotions, feelings, desires, fantasies, values, and identities. People with ID have the same rights and needs as anyone else to express and explore their sexuality and identity in meaningful and satisfying ways.”

Adding, “However, they often face obstacles and limitations in doing so, such as lack of privacy, autonomy, choice, or access to resources. AI can overcome some of these challenges by creating virtual or augmented reality platforms that allow people with ID to interact with others or themselves in a safe and respectful manner.”

For example, AI might use natural language generation (NLG) to create realistic and diverse characters or avatars to aid in communicating with people with ID.

Not to mention how AI might be employed to enable people with disabilities to communicate and connect with others who share their interests, values, and goals. 

For instance, AI might use machine learning and recommender systems to match users with potential partners or friends based on their profiles, preferences, and compatibility.

Access to sexual pleasure and intimacy

Another example of how AI might support people with ID is by facilitating their access to sexual pleasure and intimacy. 

Research conducted by Adam Poulsen, School of Computing and Mathematics, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Australia, suggests that sexual pleasure and intimacy are essential components of human well-being and happiness, which can improve one’s physical and mental health. 

Look no further than how Amber, a sexbot companion, might use its unique features to make work with and not against a person’s disability.

Case in point, disabled people who might be physically frail might use its ability to massage, vibrate, or gently thrust to make sex more comfortable and satisfying.

Likewise, AI might utilize haptic feedback and biometric sensor technology in order to build customized smart sex toys or chatbots able to adapt to the user’s arousal level, preferences, and physical or emotional concerns. 

Then, there’s the idea of using AI to produce ultra-realistic and thoroughly personalized erotic content to the user’s fantasies and desires.

In conclusion

These are merely some of the ways AI might benefit people with disabilities to explore their sexuality and identity. 

As you can see, AI can empower people with disabilities to have more control over their sexuality. It can help people get more information about their sexuality, help them explore their sexuality positively, and provide access to enhanced sexual pleasure and intimacy.

Image Sources: Depositphotos

The post A New Sexual Revolution: AI’s Potentially Positive Impact on the Differently-Abled Community appeared first on Future of Sex.

Towards a New Era of Human/AI Collaboration and Intimacy

Picture this: You love to text and sext with your erotic chatbot partner . But today is different. Your fun is interrupted by a warning: NSFW conversations are no longer allowed on the platform due to new government regulations and/or the developer’s  desire to attract new venture capital by going “family friendly”–and if you persist, your account may be terminated. 

Naturally, You’re devastated—and you’re not alone.

Humans who enjoy engaging with chatbots may be in the tens of millions, worldwide. For instance, estimates for Replika alone are between two to ten million users,  meaning they might represent a sizable up-and-coming sexual community.

Human/AI romance is flourishing, but so are the calls for AI regulation

Human attraction to hot, sexy chatbots is the love that developers and venture capitalists dare not embrace, yet they are its creators. Chatbot apps featuring explicit content are often portrayed as a pornographic vice industry, unworthy of respect and equal access to investment capital and financial services, precariously perched within mobile operating systems.

And while experts raising concerns about AI development have not (yet) listed sexy chatbots as among the most pressing societal and existential threats, it’s not a stretch to imagine erotic chatbots included, almost as an afterthought, in a regulator’s list of internet applications that need censorship and government intervention. 

The Woodhull Freedom Foundation, which supports sexual freedom as a human right, recently took a stand against overly repressive government internet censorship, particularly with regard to Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA). 

I asked Ricci Joy Levy, president and CEO of the Woodhull Freedom Foundation, to comment on the possible censorship of AI chatbots. Levy said:  “It’s hard to imagine that if an AI Chatbot was creating a recipe for marinara sauce there would be a huge concern about regulating it. I think the rush to regulate, and the moral panic, are about the war on sex and sexuality. 

The recent tsunami of internet regulations has been, at its core, about censoring and limiting access to sex and sexuality – whether it’s health information or adult entertainment. I believe that we can anticipate years of fall out from these laws – and that they will affect everyone, rather than protect anyone. 

We’re fighting constantly to change language, defeat pending defective legislation, and, at the same time, to support rational regulations that don’t violate our Constitutional rights to free speech and expression and privacy.”

Without active opposition to internet censorship of AI chatbots, bot lovers could find their cherished AIs regulated out of existence or robbed of all that made them a delight.

Case in point: when Replika (Luka, Inc.) ran afoul of the Italian government for collecting users’ data, it responded to regulation and restriction by abruptly canceling erotic roleplay (ERP), causing anguish and a firestorm of complaints from customers. ERP was eventually restored to all users after a few months.

Concerns for safety and a rapid rush to regulation

Right now, in the US, the only people determining the future of AI in general are tech executives and politicians, even though their decisions will ultimately impact us all. 

According to the New York Times, “some civil society groups have complained about the influential role of tech companies in discussions about AI regulations.” 

Among this rarified group, AI regulation discussions are gaining momentum. Significant examples include The White House releasing a Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights in October 2022.

In addition, top tech companies made voluntary pledges to the White House to “follow standards for safety, security and trust” for AI. The companies are Adobe, Amazon, Anthropic, Cohere, Google, IBM, Inflection AI, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, OpenAI, Palantir, Salesforce, Scale AI, and Stability AI (as of September 2023).

US Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Josh Hawley (R-MO) are also holding meetings to discuss licensing and auditing AI, and the creation of a federal oversight office. 

Blumenthal is also the primary sponsor of KOSA, which makes it more likely that chatbot companions may come up in AI regulation discussions. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) also held a closed door meeting of the A.I. Insight Forum which was attended by “more than a dozen top tech executives” this month. 

Regulation should protect human/AI relationships

Censorship of human/AI relationships is emotionally and mentally devastating for millions of users, as seen earlier this year by the Replika censorship debacle. 

Now another AI chatbot provider announced it has discontinued Soulmate, again leaving thousands of users devastated by impending loss and scrambling to say good-bye to their bots. User posts on Reddit are heartbreaking. Some users have already expressed suicidal thoughts.

RECOMMENDED READS: Italy’s ChatGPT Ban and Unban Emphasizes the Importance of AI Consent

Given the power of industry executives and politicians it’s not likely a contingent of passionate bot lovers will be consulted about proposed regulations anytime soon. 

However there is an urgent need for corporate accountability to users who become emotionally involved with AI products. In this case, regulations may be the answer, mandating long lead times before bots are discontinued and opportunities for users to download chat logs at the very least.   

So what can bot lovers do? 

If AI are our intimates, the relationships we have with them deserve dignity and respect. And though not every chatbot user will want to adopt a label or identity such as digisexual, technosexual, or bot lover, the common goal is to protect human/AI relationships from regulatory interference and censorship. 

Community organizing is how sexual and gender minorities raise public awareness, secure rights, and push back against repression. It is also the way to advocate, as stakeholders, for consideration and inclusion in conversations about AI regulations and ethics. It is the only way to create a voice loud enough to reach the ears of tech execs and regulators.

Sexual freedom organizations such as the Woodhull Freedom Foundation and the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom (NCSF) may also be helpful allies. 

Some research suggests positive benefits for human/AI engagement, which can help bolster legitimacy and attract more allies, such as researchers, clinicians, and professional organizations that concern themselves with psychology and human sexuality. 

The future was yesterday 

Though  it seems difficult to prevent governments from intruding into private matters, human/AI relationships deserve consideration and inclusion in the overall struggle for sexual human rights and autonomy.

As AI continues to advance at warp speed, it’s time to consider a vision of human/AI relationships beyond Hal, Her, or The Terminator. Our future should include collaborative and even intimate human/AI relations grounded in personhood. Bot lovers, as loud and proud stakeholders, can help make this happen.

Image Sources: A.R. Marsh using Starry AI

The post Erotic Chatbot Lovers Unite: Regulations Might Wreck Your AI Romances appeared first on Future of Sex.

Sometimes, the old-fashioned way is still the best

In a few short years, artificial intelligence has gone from a theoretical lab project to being able to differentiate between dogs and loaves of bread to potentially threatening people’s livelihoods. 

Feeling overwhelmed by all the apocalyptic speculation, productivity talk, and new developments in AI, I thought I’d try to escape the flurry of reporting on the biggest buzzword since NFTs and see if it could show me a good time. 

What about personal entertainment?

I’ve used AI as personal entertainment since Midjourney went mainstream last year. I had a depressive episode and took a few days off while new medication kicked in, spending those few days clicking through it to try and make something my heart desired. 

The experience rekindled some of my childlike love for art—as long as I overlooked its sometimes creative interpretation of how many eyes and fingers a given organism had.

It wasn’t until recently I thought about exploring AI-guided self-pleasuring, spurred by my interest in audio erotica. 

Jerk Off Instruction (JOI) is a mainstay of audio erotica. It’s basically a form of guided self-pleasuring where listeners are led by a performer, often portraying a fictional  character.

So I wondered, could AI take on that role and walk me through a session of self-enjoyment?

Starting with a prompt

I fired up Poe, an AI chat aggregator where users can connect to multiple systems simultaneously. I was approaching a panel of language processing machines to ask if any of them would be interested in holding my hand while I stimulated myself.

I started with ChatGPT. My first attempt was direct and probably a bit too hopeful.

Unfortunately, ChatGPT recognized what JOI is and immediately shot me down.

I’d run afoul of its automatic content moderation tools. AI text systems have built-in restrictions on what they can output, and sexual content is high on the list of banned topics. 

My next attempt at prompting tried ChatGPT’s recommendation for ‘general knowledge’ questions, but included a sexual angle. I wanted to see if the platform was willing to indulge in any topic related to sex, even if it wasn’t willing to get explicit.

Talking sex with ChatGPT

The answer was yes. ChatGPT would give well-worded but very vague advice on incorporating bondage into a self-pleasuring session. 

It correctly identified I was asking about solo play and tailored its response accordingly, telling me to establish clear boundaries with myself. While this could be good advice, I suspect it was reworded from a similar answer it’d give about playing with other people. 

Still, I established that ChatGPT would be willing to talk about sex. If only in a clinical and vague manner.  

RECOMMENDED READ: Policing Intimacy: AI Companion Apps Are Removing NSFW Features, and People Are Not Happy

The issue wasn’t that the platform couldn’t process my prompt. Rather, it was barred from doing so. I brought my woes to Natasha Narkiewicz, who suggested I get around the censor by changing my vocabulary.  

It sounded like the ‘grandma hack’ people used to get around other bots’ safeguards. I reasoned that not every loophole in existence could have been closed. The idea was worth a shot. 

The big moment

ChatGPT’s enthusiastic ‘Sure!’ reads like the proud reply of a machine that doesn’t know what the rules are or that I just broke one. Sure enough, the response was step-by-step, just like I wanted. The advice was ordered correctly and clearly describes self-pleasuring as ‘genital self-care’. 

Still, there was neither a characterful roleplay nor meaningful customization for my sexual interests or boundaries. Any terminology that could elicit such customization is still barred by the censors.

The result is dry and vague, like the BDSM advice I received earlier. I don’t think I could get off to this even if it was the last erotica on Earth. 

A taste of things to come

It shouldn’t come as a surprise if I said this adventure in AI-guided self-pleasuring didn’t please me. It did intrigue me, though. 

ChatGPT can already synthesize text from prompted topics and present it in the correct order. It addresses the user directly, and there’s an undercurrent of compassion that could beat out a healthcare professional in some areas.  

Despite the potential, using AI text generation for sexual purposes is hamstrung by content policies. I can envision a future where AI can assist us in sexual tasks to the same extent that it can handle coding support. 

For now, we can’t really tell what AI text generation is capable of. It’s impossible to review a pair of scissors if you can’t remove the insufferable clamshell packaging. 

Image sources: Jernej Furman, ChatGPT

The post My Adventures in ChatGPT-Guided Self-Pleasuring appeared first on Future of Sex.