In a statement more foreboding than its tone suggests, ChatGPT maker OpenAI is considering allowing its users to «generate NSFW content in age-appropriate contexts through the API and ChatGPT.» Creating AI-generated pornography, in other words, potentially opening up an enormous can of worms for the very popular AI, which is already the target of all kinds of scrutiny, criticism, and litigation.
The announcement that OpenAI is «exploring» the possibility of opening up its tools to explicit content came in the form of a brief aside in a long document about the development of its AI models.
Currently, OpenAI tools like ChatGPT are subject to content filters that are supposed to stop them from spitting out smut at unsuspecting users, and it's important to stress that changing that is just something that OpenAI is thinking about.
There are no solid plans yet. Nevertheless, those filters may be softened up in the near future, allowing customers to generate almost all the filth they want.
Almost, but not all. In comments to NPR, OpenAI model lead Joanne Jang clarified that—although the company might one day allow things that fall under «your definition of porn»—anything that violates the law or other peoples' rights is a no-no.