Ariadne Conill 🐰Mar 17

*clicks onto linkedin*

> half the posts are from techbro *men* talking about their AI pals that they have made

> some of their AI pals are depicted with early 20s female avatars

> the techbros are 50+ years old

*clicks off of linkedin in disgust*

Show threadLaurent BercotMar 18
@ariadne look, I'm all for giving these guys AI sexbots if it makes them leave real women alone
Show threadCassandrichMar 18

@ska @ariadne Narrator: It didn't make them leave real women alone.

It just let them normalize the feel of having that kind of power relationship.

The same way letting them have "AI slaves" won't make them want to bring back human slavery any less, but rather more.

It just whets their appetite.

Show threadLaurent Bercot

@dalias @ariadne Sure. But you could say the same thing about porn, which I see as a net positive for society, because imagine guys without that outlet.

I think that guys who want that kind of power will want it anyway, and letting them have some sort of substitute minimizes harm. I may be wrong about this. I'm not recommending we set up scientific trials to study what the net result is.

Mar 18 at 12:22amWeb
Show threadCassandrichMar 18
@ska @ariadne I mean for certain types of "porn" (particularly, CSAM, but maybe some other things too?) I think it does make things worse not serve as an "outlet" or "harm minimization". Probably this has something to do with whether the production itself involves the awful power dynamic they crave, vs legitimate porn where production is consensual.
Show threadHaelwenn /элвэн/ Mar 18
@dalias @ska @ariadne Also I think there's a bit about (re)presentation, like if in-story sex crimes makes audience/characters afraid of consequences or actually jailed is different from the various kinds of horrors some probably want.
Show threadLaurent BercotMar 18

@dalias @ariadne Yeah I thought it was obvious that the issue with CSAM is production, and its consumption is bad because it's an incentive to produce more.

I don't know how I really feel about AI-generated CSAM, if that's a thing (who are we kidding, of course that's a thing). Disgusted, certainly, but I kinda see it as "sick" more than "evil", if that makes sense.

Show threadLisPiMar 18
@dalias @ska @ariadne Note that some countries consider even visual art (or indeed, even text) that never involved any humans as qualifying.

The depiction can be just about anything.

I would also be wary of considering appreciation for any particular depiction to be indicative of anything (humans get very weird about sex and reality need not apply). The average vore enthusiast doesn't go on to attempt cannibalism (consensual or not).
Show threadCassandrichMar 18
@lispi314 @ariadne @ska See the other branches of this thread. I don't think we need this discussion here - it doesn't contribute to the topic.
Show threadLisPiMar 18

@dalias I was thinking it hadn't federated but no, I don't get it.

For example, rape fetish is absurdly (okay, that's just me not getting it but whatever) common among women and yet basically none of them (the ones consuming it specifically, not the general population set) actually wish it to happen to them for real.

The distinction between porn/erotic fantasy and reality matters a lot.

Or is my understanding of "any erotica" as "porn" (or really, lack of differentiation between the two, erotic art is erotic art, it doesn't matter if it's low quality slop) the issue that confuses me?

Show threadOutfrostMar 18
@ska @dalias watching porn of consenting adults, and having a virtual sex slave, less than half one's age, incapable of consent or saying "no", are dramatically different things
Show threadCassandrichMar 18
@outfrost @ska Yeah that's basically my point.