The rapid growth of technology, with Artificial Intelligence (AI) playing a prominent part in its evolution, raises a number of ethical issues, some of which have yet to be refined in legal contexts. 
One such issue, AI-generated adult content, raises questions such as whether the use of AI in generating adult materials requires a person’s consent, is there a legal context to such use, what parameters describe the limits of adult content generation, and who can be held liable for violations of such a law if a law were to be enacted. These questions illustrate the complexities of adult content generation using AI technologies.
This content attempts to address some of the ethical issues involved in AI adult content generation and the intersection of law, such as the applicable forms of law, and how such laws can be applied and in what context.
The Meaning of Consent in AI
The meaning of the term consent has many dimensions, from the legal to the social. In a legal context, it can be defined as the permission granted to an individual to be a part of, or to be associated with, an activity or procedure. In the adult content business, the legal and ethical expectations of having adult performers in a video can be satisfied. However, with AI adult content, there is more to it than having no person (and thus, no adult performers) in the video. There are far more ethical and legal issues involved.
Consent may be a factor in an adult content video, using AI technology, but it is a factor here in three notable circumstances.
- There may be an issue with obtaining consent in order to use or make reference to a likeness of an individual or perform a reference.
- There may be ethical or legal concerns with reference to the use or inclusion of copyrighted materials or images.
- There may be no concerns with obtaining consent if fully fictitious characters are used.
These three circumstances may be used to describe adult AI-generated content that may be viewed as lawful, and AI adult content is lawful. However, the ethical issues involved in using AI to generate adult content are many.
Legally Protected Adult Content with Fictional Characters
Legally speaking, fully fictional AI-generated adult content is not very problematic. As long as all characters are fictional and not based on real people, there are no issues with consent.
In most areas, this content is legal as long as:
- All characters are adults
- No real people are represented
- No laws concerning obscenity or harmful content are violated
- Terms of service and local laws are followed
Because no real people are involved, there are no potential issues in terms of consent. This is why many AI companies focus on creating fictional characters.
Using Real People’s Likenesses: Where Consent Becomes Critical
The most legally complicated topic is AI generated adult content that is the likeness of real people. This could be actor, influencer, private person, or any recognizably individual.
In most jurisdictions, adult content using someone’s likeness is created without their consent, and the following could be violated:
- Privacy
- Right of publicity
- Defamation
- Harassment/Image abuse
Although the content is AI generated and does not involve any real photos, the court may still analyze if a reasonable person could identify the person. If yes, that means the case involves a legal requirement for consent.
This is the reason for the growing number of jurisdictions that are either introducing or expanding laws around non-consensual deepfake pornography.
Images Uploaded and Responsibility for Consent
Another significant legal issue emerges when users place real pictures into AI adult content generators. Here, the responsibility could be split among
- The user
- The platform
- The AI service provider in some instances
An adult content generation tool actually may be breaching consent laws in instances where someone uploads a picture of another person without their consent, transforming the original picture into explicit content. While the platform may not be liable for creating the original picture, they do assume legal risk by modifying a picture to create explicit content.
Because of this, a huge number of platforms ban the following:
- Uploading pictures of individuals without consent
- Transforming real individuals into adult content
- Using AI tools for impersonation or image abuse
Celebrity and Public Figure Likeness
One common misconception is that public figures automatically have lost their rights of consent. This is not true. While celebrities may have a lesser demand for privacy in the context of news or commentary, that protection does not apply to adult content or sexually explicit content.
In certain jurisdictions:
- It is illegal to make adult content using a celebrity’s likeness without permission.
- AI generation does not create a legal loophole.
- A parody defense, primarily serves to protect the creator of content. It is unlikely to apply to content that is overtly sexual.
In many jurisdictions, the use of artificial intelligence to create non-consensual sexual content, or explicit content, using the likeness of a celebrity is viewed as sexual exploitation and/or a tort of defamation.
Legal Rules Vs. Platform Rules
It is also important to distinguish between legal rules and platform rules. Just because a platform is permissive of certain content, does not mean that such content is lawful.
Legal liability can still arise from:
- The country’s laws
- The region’s laws
- The laws pertaining to identifiable victims
Platforms do content moderation and user bans to eliminate their liability, but users are the ones who are liable for the actions they take with the AI.
Age and AI Content
One of the clearest legal boundaries is in the area of age. In the majority of countries, AI-generated adult content that depicts, or alludes to, a minor, whether real or fictitious is illegal, regardless of whether:
- The character is not real
- No child participated in the making of the content
- The content was made with a computer
Such actions may very likely violate the child protection laws, which, as a legal practitioner, I can assure you is a highly regulated domain of legal practice with a great deal of consensus in the legal community.
Newly Formed Rules
Laws that apply to sexually explicit content have started to arrive from all jurisdictions. A common form of those laws focuses on:
- Mandatory consent required
- Criminal Deepfake Non-Consent
- Deepfake Non-Consent Civil Liabilities
- Liability of Platforms
Although laws are different in different parts of the world, the consensus is moving towards obtaining consent for using AI Legislative Adult Content regardless of location.
Ethical Consent
Things can be legal, and still be wrong. Consent is with the laws, and ethical consent is also with morally right principles, including all of the following:
- Individual Collateral
- Non harm
- AI Utilization Transparency
As a result of this, most platforms have their systems policies to limit user actions, maintain balances, and avoid any unnecessary abuse.
Final Remark
The difference in adult content with the use of AI is fictional or can be based on actual people. When using actual people, the likeness must not be used without obtaining the legal right to do so. Using AI should not be viewed as a means of circumventing the requirement for consent to be obtained. Consent must be obtained, and the use of AI should be viewed as a means of rethinking and redefining the concept of consent.
With the continued advancement of AI technology, the creator(s), the platform(s), and the governing body must understand that the creation of digital content will not remove the application of real world human rights. It is important to know the limitations of the virtual world in order to utilize AI Legislative Adult Content in a responsible and lawful manner.