AI models have appeared on sites with adult content, such as OnlyFans and Fanvue. Sometimes stolen images are also used. There’s also someone selling a course on how to create a profitable AI adult creator for $220. Will AI harm adult creators, and will subscribers know they are talking to a computer?
Last winter, there was some news that AI might replace humans in the amazing job of being an online influencer. According to the article, new Instagram influencers have gained large numbers of followers and even landed brand deals. There was one problem. The influencer was an AI.
Some AI influencers, like Lil Miquela, offer a kind of artsy commentary on the nature of influence and what’s conceptually interesting about it. But when we dug a little deeper into one of the AI-generated influencer accounts on Instagram — the one that reportedly won a deal with a brand — we found a different kind of story.
The profile of one of the most popular AI influencers had a link to a profile on Fanvue, an OnlyFans competitor. On her Fanvue account, the influencer posted provocative photos, and for a $7 monthly subscription fee, you could see her nude photos. (It feels weird to say “she” or “nude” because this person doesn’t exist. Remember, she’s an AI. But I think this is where we are in 2024. )
Ah, now I understand. Business has always been porn. Instagram and other social media sites were at the top of the conversion funnel. These accounts weren’t trying to be “Instagram influencers” making money by promoting shampoo, but instead used Instagram to drive traffic to their fan views, where they asked men to post nude photos of themselves. They could make people pay to see it.
When a potential customer visits a paid site, they encounter even more AI-generated photos and videos.
Technology news site 404 Media has published a deep dive into this world, “Inside the fast-growing ‘AI pumping’ industry.” What our reporter discovered is that both OnlyFans and Fanvue have a surprising number of AI-powered accounts. Disturbingly, 404 Media found that many of these accounts were using images that were not dreamed up purely by AI. These included deepfakes (fake images of real people) and face swaps, where someone’s face is placed on an AI-generated body.
There’s also a whole side economy of people selling guides and courses on how to help others start their own businesses creating AI models. One person is selling a course on how to make money using AI adult influencers for $220.
A Fanvue spokesperson told Business Insider that using images that steal someone’s identity is against their rules. Fanvue also uses third-party moderation tools and has human moderators. “Deepfakes are an industry challenge,” the spokesperson added. OnlyFans’ terms of service prohibit models from using AI chatbots. These terms also state that AI content is allowed only if users can identify it as AI and if the content features a verified author and not someone else. I am.
Aside from the possibility that the images may have been stolen, the existence of AI adult content is somewhat disturbing. On the other hand, some of these AI creators argue that this is no different from cartoon porn. However, real adult content creators are concerned that AI will impact their business. Some recently told BI’s Marta Vino that they found AI tools useful, such as the AI chatbot they use to talk to fans. But they also said they were concerned that the use of AI could undermine fan trust.
I don’t know if fans of AI accounts always realize that these “people” are artificial intelligence. Comments on one woman’s account, which was clearly generated by AI, read as if many people thought she was human. This AI-generated woman sometimes posts a pink-haired anime version of herself on Fanvue.
In one of these posts, a paying Fanvue customer wrote that she wanted to see real women’s clothing, not the animated version. I don’t know if he knows that neither of them are real.
