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Twitter bans 'deepfake' AI-generated porn
The fight against the spread of "deepfake" porn has another ally: Twitter. The social network has told Motherboard that it's banning accounts that are either the original posters of AI-edited videos or dedicated to posting these clips. These face swaps violate the company's "intimate media" policy, which bars any sexually explicit photos or videos produced or shared without someone's consent. It's on par with revenge porn, in that regard.
Pornhub says it will ban 'deepfake' AI-edited videos
Is the thought of AI-generated fake porn (aka "deepfakes") disturbing to you? You're not the only one. Pornhub has informed Motherboard that it will ban videos that use machine learning to superimpose faces on porn actors. The company forbids "any nonconsensual content," and this certainly qualifies -- more often than not, the face's owner didn't give permission. Pornhub put it on the same level as revenge porn.
A game about penises made Steam live streaming a reality
You won't find Genital Jousting on Twitch, largely because the game is populated by a variety of brightly colored penises with X-marked anuses between their testicles. The penises are often clothed, it should be noted, but the gameplay makes this odd anatomy lesson very clear: One of the main mechanics has players attempt to stick a penis tip into the anus of another penis. So, no, you won't find Genital Jousting on Twitch. It's on the site's list of banned games, alongside titles like Battle Rape, The Maiden Rape Assault: Violent Semen Inferno and Suck My Dick or Die. However, Genital Jousting is not a violent sexual game. It's not even really about intercourse or how silly penises look when they're flopping around a screen -- it's designed to shine a spotlight on toxic masculinity and highlight the perils of a patriarchal society. Its story mode is fully narrated, starring a penis named John as he grapples with a midlife crisis and reevaluates his priorities. In short, Genital Jousting is meant to demystify the penis in an accessible, light-hearted, fully-clothed manner.
US appeals court says Tinder Plus pricing is discriminatory
They say all's fair in love and war, but those that have used Tinder will probably disagree. And that includes Allan Candelore, a man suing the dating app over the pricing of its premium service, Tinder Plus. Candelore and his lawyers argue that charging $9.99 a month to users under 30, and $19.99 a month to those over 30, is age discrimination, and violates two California laws: the Unruh Civil Rights Act and the Unfair Competition Law.
Fake porn is the new fake news, and the internet isn’t ready
Ever since Facebook finally admitted to having a fake news problem, it's been trying to fix it. It hired thousands of people to help block fake ads, pledged to work with third-party fact-checking organizations and is busy building algorithms to detect fake news. But even as it attempts to fight back against fraudulent ads and made-up facts, another potential fake news threat looms on the horizon: artificially generated fake video.
AI-powered face swapping has taken a dystopian turn
As if the issues like revenge porn and AI-powered facial recognition searches weren't creepy enough, a Motherboard report reveals yet another unsettling use of technology: "deepfakes." Within a month of locating a Redditor who used machine learning to swap pictures of mainstream actresses onto the bodies of women performing in porn movies, the outlet has found people using an app based on his techniques to create videos using images of women they know.
CamSoda can sync your sex doll to an online performer
NSFW Warning: This story may contain links to and descriptions or images of explicit sexual acts. If your goal is to have sex with someone through the internet, via the medium of a simulacrum of that person in the room, today is your lucky day. CamSoda, Lovense and RealDoll have teamed up to create VIRP, a system offering Virtual Intercourse with Real People. Put simply, it's much like the teledildonic setups currently used by cam performers, albeit with a big latex doll instead of a little cylinder.
Pornhub branches out into interactive sex toys
Before the sex robots take over, we still have time to get our rocks off with one another (and ourselves). And Pornhub is here to lend a hand, or an interactive sex toy, or three, to be precise. The largest pornography site on the net has been syncing its interactive adult movies with the Fleshlight Launch and Kiiroo's Onyx since June, and now it's adding its own, brand-spanking new haptic toys (the Virtual Rabbit, Virtual Blowbot Turbo Stroker, and Virtual Blowbot Stroker) to the list.
Danish police charge 1,000 people following Facebook sex video
Facebook is no stranger to notifying police when there's clear evidence of a crime, but its latest action has had consequences on a much larger scale than usual. Danish police have charged 1,004 young people (some under 18) after Facebook notified authorities that Messenger users were sharing a video of two teens under 15 years old having sex, violating laws against the distribution of indecent images of children. Many of those who shared the video did so 'just' a few times, police said, but others shared it hundreds of times -- they knew what they were doing, even if they didn't realize it was illegal.
Contraceptive app under fire for causing unwanted pregnancies
A contraceptive app used by more than 500,000 women has come under fire after reportedly causing 37 unwanted pregnancies. Stockholm's Södersjukhuset hospital has now reported the Natural Cycles app to the Swedish Medical Products Agency (the government body tasked with the regulation of medical devices) according to news outlet SVT.
Artgasm turns the female orgasm into a literal work of art
The female orgasm can be elusive, but at CES 2018, sexual-health startup Lioness managed to capture and immortalize them as works of art. The art is based on information gleaned from volunteers who have used its $229 bio-sensing vibrator, which started shipping in August. The mini exhibit was in Las Vegas to drum up awareness for both the Lioness brand and women's sexual-health issues, particularly how we orgasm. It was shown in a limited preview last year at the Mothership music festival, and Lioness hopes to eventually add more pieces and take the exhibit to galleries all over the country.
Don’t call it a dildo: Kiiroo and OhMiBod on the future of sex toys
CES may have a complicated relationship with sex, but one company at the world's largest technology conference has made it its mission to destigmatize doing it. For the past seven years, the family-run sex-toy manufacturer OhMiBod has made the trek to Las Vegas in an attempt to gain mainstream distribution for its line of tech-savvy pleasure products. This year, the company has partnered with one of the leaders in interactive sex toys, Kiiroo, to create an internet-connected vibrator that can communicate with the Fleshlight-branded Launch male masturbator. OhMiBod's Fuse claims to be the first of its kind to offer bi-directional control -- basically, allowing either the stroker or the vibrator to send sensations to the other device from long distances. Both devices also promise to sync with VR and traditional porn and can be used by webcam models to give their clients an extra-sensory experience. The Fuse can be purchased online, and you can see the devices for yourself at the Las Vegas Convention Center's South hall through the remainder of CES. The Kiiroo Launch is now available for $220 and the OhMiBod Fuse can be had for $150. I sat down with Kiiroo founder Toon Timmermans and OhMiBod's Suki and Brian Dunham at CES 2018 to talk about the future of long-distance love and learned a lesson in interactive sex-toy branding: Whatever you do, don't call it a dildo!
There’s a new sex robot in town: Say hello to Solana
It's been just short of a year since I locked eyes with Harmony, RealDoll's first sex robot, at her home in Southern California. It was an arresting experience that has remained cemented in memory. In that moment, I suddenly understood the uncanny valley, a theory posited by roboticist Masahiro Mori, nearly half a century prior. It attempts to explain the feeling of revulsion and eeriness that human onlookers experience when they encounter an artificial life-form that appears nearly, but not quite human.
Bipartisan support grows for online sex trafficking bill
The bill aimed to curb online sex trafficking has gained support from 60 senators, which means it has enough backing to withstand a filibuster once it reaches the floor. Both republican and democrat lawmakers have put their weight behind the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act, with three additional members of the GOP backing it this week Bloomberg reports. Previously, the Internet Association (which counts Amazon, Facebook and Google as members) was opposed to any changes to the Communications Decency Act's Section 230, but in November the organization changed its tune after vague wording was cleared up.
eHarmony can't claim its matches are 'scientific' anymore
Turns out that dating service eHarmony has a weird definition of "science" when the law comes knocking. An ad in the London subway system triggered the UK's Advertising Standards Agency to call the "scientifically proven" matching system "misleading," as spotted by the BBC. From the ASA:
BDSM 2.0: Castration and extortion in the digital age
It's a mild but muggy September day in Beverly Hills, California, when Harley and I meet at her new neighborhood nail salon. Today, the 6-foot-tall Silicon Valley expatriate is dressed in a leatherlike jumpsuit so short and low-cut that it feels like a mere suggestion of clothing. A shock of magenta hair frames the constellation of stars tattooed across her left temple. Her unnaturally plump lips are so glossy and brightly colored they almost look lacquered. She wears platform boots to accentuate her already-imposing frame. An assortment of colorful, outsize tattoos runs the length of her seemingly infinite limbs. NSFW Warning: This story may contain links to and descriptions or images of explicit sexual acts.
You don’t need a PhD to grasp the anxieties around sex robots
NSFW Warning: This story may contain links to and descriptions or images of explicit sexual acts. If you want to understand the myriad issues concerning sex robots that humanity needs to grapple with, you have two options. You can either spend several years studying for a PhD in either of those fields, or you can sit down in front of your TV.
Amazon and Microsoft employees caught up in sex trafficking sting
The tech industry has a clear history of sexism and misogyny, but a recent Newsweek report highlights another problem. The publication got its hands on a slew of emails sent to brothels and pimps between 2014 and 2016 that document the industry's patronage of brothels and purchasing of services from trafficked sex workers. Among the emails, which were obtained through a public records request to the King County Prosecutor's Office, were 67 sent from Microsoft employee email accounts, 63 from Amazon accounts and dozens more from companies like Boeing, T-Mobile, Oracle and local Seattle tech firms.
The best Engadget stories of 2017
This year gave us an innovative new console from Nintendo, an iPhone without a home button, EVs and self-driving cars from almost all the major automakers, and fresh headaches for Twitter and Facebook alike. As busy as we were reviewing a new flagship phone seemingly every other week, Engadget's writers and editors looked beyond that never-ending gadget cycle to deliver impactful, thoughtful features. In fact, some of our favorite stories from this year were weeks, sometimes months, in the making. Here's a selection of our best pieces, chosen by the team. Enjoy, and here's to even more long-form in 2018.
OKCupid unveils major overhaul to cull spam messages
OKCupid (OKC) realizes that it needs to evolve if it wants to stay relevant in the ever-changing online dating world. Specifically, it'll start retooling how messaging works very soon. Starting next week the only way you'll see messages from randoms is if you visit their profile page; the only messages that populate your inbox will be from people you've already liked or already responded to. Sure, there's the risk that you might not see a message from someone special, but if you've been proactive on the site that really shouldn't be an issue.
