As part of a broader pornography review launched in July 2023, the UK government announced an initiative to look into the impact of emerging technologies like AI and virtual reality (VR) on the adult industry. 

The primary focus of this review was on the prevalence of child sexual abuse material online, but in light of ongoing technological developments, previsions had to be made to delve into the issue of AI being utilized to generate sexually explicit images of individuals without their consent.

The government is now inviting contributions from various stakeholders, including pornographic content creators, parents, and law enforcement bodies, to gather insights that will shape recommendations for future government actions. The call for evidence will remain open until the 7th of March, 2024.

“Throughout this review, it is essential we engage directly with those who are most involved in the pornography industry and accurately establish what the general public thinks of the current rules governing pornography,” said Gabrielle Bertin, lead of the Pornography Review. 

“We want to hear from a wide range of views whether it be a worried parent, those enforcing the laws to stop exploitation or someone directing or performing in pornography themselves, to speak up and support our review.”

The need for an expansion of the pornography review comes on the backdrop of a report by Wired, which showed that non-consensual AI-generated videos and images on deep fake porn sites increased by 54% between 2022 and Q3 2023. 

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According to a prediction from Daniel Faggella, head of research at Emerj, in as little as five years, over 90% of pornography consumed by humans will be AI-generated. This is, according to him, because the content will expand beyond what we think as adult content today. 

The direction the technology is heading, even aside from its applications to pornography, is to drown users in an ocean of generative content programmed to captivate our attention. 

In the context of pornography, this would allow users to play out desires in ways  previously unimaginable, like real-time customisable AI-generated VR videos with biofeedback to keep your interest. 

“People will have access, not to ‘videos,’ but to one endless stream of dopamine-inducing content, calibrated in real time to precisely what they’re interested in or curious about,” said Faggella 

The government’s aim now is to ensure that pornography legislation and regulation operate consistently for all forms of pornographic content, present and future.