Döring, Nicola, Le, Thuy Dung, and Miller, Dan J. (2025) Experiences with AI-Generated Pornography: A Quantitative Content Analysis of Reddit Posts. Archives of Sexual Behavior. (In Press)

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Abstract

With the rise of generative artificial intelligence (AI), a new form of pornography has emerged: AI-generated pornography (AI pornography, AI adult content, synthetic pornography). This phenomenon encompasses both entirely fictional content and deepfake pornography, which involves non-consensual depictions of celebrities and private individuals. While non-consensual deepfake pornography has sparked widespread concern, the broader range of experiences associated with AI pornography remains under-researched. This study aimed to address this gap by examining the spectrum of AI pornography experiences as shared on Reddit, adopting a communication process perspective. Specifically, it explored the following research questions (RQ): How do Reddit users address the production (RQ1), content (RQ2), use (RQ3), effects (RQ4), and ethical–legal implications (RQ5) of AI pornography in their posts? A total of 390 English-language public Reddit posts related to AI pornography were collected in August 2024 and analyzed using a manual quantitative content analysis guided by a reliability-tested codebook (mean Cohen’s kappa=0.88). The analysis revealed that the production (RQ1: 59.5%) and content (RQ2: 60.8%) of AI pornography were the most frequently discussed topics, while use experiences (RQ3: 12.8%) were the least represented. Effects (RQ4: 37.2%) and ethical–legal implications (RQ5: 35.1%) were addressed in approximately one-third of posts. The AI pornography experiences addressed in Reddit posts ranged from outrage and concern regarding its actual and potential harms to curiosity, enjoyment, and economic benefits, underscoring the need for a nuanced response from policymakers, technology developers, educators, and mental health professional.

Item ID:	88905
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	1573-2800
Keywords:	Generative artificial intelligence; AI pornography; Synthetic pornography; Reddit ; Quantitative content analysis
Copyright Information:	This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Date Deposited:	20 Oct 2025 23:18
FoR Codes:	52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5205 Social and personality psychology > 520599 Social and personality psychology not elsewhere classified @ 30% 46 INFORMATION AND COMPUTING SCIENCES > 4608 Human-centred computing > 460806 Human-computer interaction @ 70%
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