A group of Sex industry professionals and advocates sent an open letter to EU regulators on Thursday, saying their views are being ignored in key discussions about the oversight of AI technology, despite them also being involved in the meteoric rise of AI.
In response to European internet regulations, a collective of adult industry members including sex workers, erotic filmmakers, sextech companies and sex educators have called on the European Commission to include them in future negotiations on how to shape AI regulation, according to the letter, seen by WIRED.
The group, which includes the company of erotic filmmaker Erika Lust and the campaign group European Sex Workers’ Rights Alliance, and is signed by the Open Mind AI initiative, wants to alert the commission to what it calls a “critical gap” in discussions about AI regulation. Those coordinating the campaign say the current strategy for discussions risks excluding first-hand perspectives on adult content and over-regulating an already marginalised community.
“AI is evolving every day [and] “We see new developments everywhere,” said Ana Ornelas, a Berlin-based erotic author and lecturer who uses the pseudonym Pimenta Cítrica and is one of the leaders of the initiative. “It makes sense that people would turn to this new technology to satisfy their fantasies.”
But deepfakes now pose a major threat to AI. Ninety-six percent of them contain nonconsensual “porn,” mostly of women and girls. It’s “extremely damaging” to those targeted, as well as to porn performers, Ornelas says. “It’s a threat to both their human integrity and their livelihood,” she adds. “But given the way the landscape is set up, adult content creators, sex workers, and educators are getting the short end of the stick on both ends of the spectrum.” She says she worries that banning all adult content will wipe out legitimately created content with nonconsensual material and push people toward AI models without filters.
On August 1, the European Commission introduced what it called the world’s first comprehensive legislation on AI. The aim, it said, is to foster responsible use of AI across the bloc. It follows earlier EU legislation that controlled illegal and harmful activities on digital platforms. But the initiative’s organizers say regulators don’t understand the porn industry, leaving them at risk of censorship, draconian measures and misunderstandings.
“We can provide policymakers with the right insight so they can regulate in a way that protects fundamental rights and freedoms and promotes a more sex-positive online environment,” Ornelas said. The European Commission did not immediately respond to a request for comment from WIRED.
Sex workers and porn performers have already reported censorship and discrimination linked to global legislation cracking down on sex trafficking and banks restricting their services. Members of the adult industry, including sex educators, have also faced suspensions and bans from tech platforms.
“There’s a lack of awareness about how policies affect our livelihoods,” says Paulita Pappel, an adult filmmaker and an organizer of the initiative. “We face discrimination, and if regulators are trying to protect people’s rights, it would be nice if they could protect everyone’s digital rights.”
