ChatGPT launches erotica chatbot, faces further criticism

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said his company "is not the elected moral police of the world" after facing criticism for its decision to allow content like erotica on ChatGPT.

Altman said he would allow more content on ChatGPT in December, including erotica for "verified adults". In a post on X, he attempted to clarify the move, stating that OpenAI "cares deeply about the principle of treating adult users as adults" but still won't allow "things that cause harm to others." "Just as the company distinguishes other appropriate boundaries (such as R-rated movies), we want to do something similar here," Altman wrote.

When Altman forgot about "pride"

The posts contradict comments Altman made during his podcast appearance in August, where he said he was "proud" of OpenAI's ability to resist certain features, such as an "avatar sex bot," that could increase engagement on ChatGPT. "There are a lot of short-term things that we could do that would actually drive growth or revenue that would be very misaligned with that long-term goal," Altman said.

His post also caught the attention of advocacy groups such as the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE), which called on OpenAI to reverse its decision to allow erotica on ChatGPT. "Sexualized chatbots with artificial intelligence are inherently risky and cause real mental harm from synthetic intimacy; all in the context of poorly defined industry safety standards," Haley McNamara, executive director of NCOSE, said in a statement.

The artificial intelligence-focused startup, which is also co-owned by Microsoft, has expanded its security controls in recent months as it has faced increasing scrutiny over how it protects users, particularly minors. Altman said OpenAI would be able to "safely relax" most of the restrictions as it has new tools and has been able to mitigate "serious mental health issues".

Investigating serious impacts on children and teenagers

In September, the Federal Trade Commission launched an investigation into OpenAI and other technology companies over how chatbots like ChatGPT could negatively impact children and teens.

OpenAI is also named in a wrongful death lawsuit by a family who accused ChatGPT of killing their teenage son by suicide. The boy had completed his undergraduate studies with a major in IT and spent months chatting with the AI that guided and encouraged his suicidal thoughts.

In the months following the investigation and lawsuit, the company took several public steps to increase security on ChatGPT. Late last month, it launched a series of parental controls and is creating an age prediction system that will automatically apply settings appropriate for teens and users under the age of 18.

AI and the impact on mental health

Most recently, OpenAI announced that it has set up a board of eight experts to provide insight into how artificial intelligence is impacting users' mental health, emotions and motivation. On the same day, Altman released information about the company's intention to loosen restrictions, sparking confusion and a swift backlash on social media that he said he hadn't anticipated.

Until the launch, it remains unclear whether what Altman calls erotica will, by chance, be straight-up pornography. Will the chatbot generate only text, sound or even images?

OpenAI also includes Sora software that can generate videos based on text inputs. Will AI be given boundaries or will it also generate sexual deepfakes, which can be abused and are also a common harassment of girls and women?

Is this just a form of manipulation by desperate people to increase revenue for the owners of OpenAI?

Altman, who himself lives in a homosexual partnership (he also adopted a child from surrogacy), clearly has no scruples about sexual orientation, whether it be same-sex or non-sexual with artificial intelligence.

A new form of artificial relationships?

Perhaps his chatbot will also allow fantasies with non-persons other than animals or objects. Human sexuality, focused on reproduction and fulfilment in a lasting marriage, will be further undermined by a new form of artificial relationship that young people will be most curious about.

Elon Musk's rival AI Grok, via a chatbot, has also been offering sexualised content through a lightly clad animated avatar for some time. Smaller providers also have erotic chatbots.

ChatGPT doesn't seem to want to be left behind. So that it doesn't end up just staying there. In fact, the stock prices of AI firms have inflated with promises that AI will design protocols to cure cancer and create innovation in every direction.

The famous investor Michael Burry, who correctly predicted the 2008 financial crisis, bet $1.1 billion on the bubble bursting.

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