Meta's Facebook and Instagram are reportedly teeming with thousands of ads for AI-generated companions and apps that promise a virtual girlfriend experience. Now, sex workers are criticising the tech giant for seemingly allowing these suggestive ads while cracking down on sexually suggestive content from other sources.
According to the folks at Wired, the chatbots within these ads offer users AI-generated images featuring women in revealing clothing who conform to stereotypical beauty standards often associated with pornography. One such ad even makes an explicit claim of sexual gratification within a minute.
Meta's platforms advertise AI companions that enable users to engage in role-playing scenarios with various characters, including a virtual stepmom and a computer-generated teenager in a hijab. Human sex workers on Meta's platforms expressed concerns over alleged preferential treatment given to AI-powered sex services.
While AI girlfriends are allowed to proliferate, human sex work is banned under Meta's policy on "adult content," according to Wired. Gemma Rose, director of a UK-based sex worker rights organisation, highlighted the contrasting treatment in an interview with the outlet.
She explained that any similar suggestive language from human sex workers, like offering unlimited services or guaranteeing quick results, would lead to immediate account deletion.
AI Girlfriend Ads Offer Sexually Suggestive Content
Meta's social media platforms allegedly house around 29,000 ads for explicit AI "girlfriends." This is in contrast to the company's advertising policies that restrict "depictions of people in explicit or suggestive positions, or activities that are overly suggestive or sexually provocative."
The company's policies forbid nudity and the solicitation of sexual services, including sexting. However, sex workers like Rose argue that these regulations are inconsistently applied, as the current wave of AI companion ads often contain sexually suggestive content that wouldn't be allowed from human users.
In response to these concerns, Meta spokesperson Ryan Daniels affirmed the company's policy against adult content in advertisements. He added that Meta is actively working to identify and remove any violating ads.
"When we identify violating ads, we work quickly to remove them, as we're doing here," he told Wired. "We continue to improve our systems, including how we detect ads and behaviour that go against our policies."
Many AI Girlfriend Ads Remain Despite the Ban
Despite the Mark Zuckerberg-led company's efforts, a search of their ad library on April 30 revealed that over 1,500 "AI girlfriend" ads remained active on their US platforms, with approximately 190 containing sexually suggestive content.
A significant portion of these ads focus on the ability to manipulate the appearance of female characters in real-time, allowing users to customise their clothing and level of undress.
In April, Meta announced its intention to adopt AI technology to safeguard minors from financial sextortion scams, following criticism directed at the social media giant for permitting criminals to trick youngsters into sharing explicit pictures and subsequently blackmail them into payment.
Late Checkout CEO Greg Isenberg is optimistic about the prospect of a dating app that pairs real individuals with AI-generated girlfriends. He suggests that this groundbreaking concept has the potential to evolve into a billion-dollar industry.
