Why does this keep happening?
TFW No GF
Like death and taxes, there seem to be few things more predictable than artificial intelligence going off the rails.
Case in point, remember that influencer who created a virtual version of herself to rent out as an “AI girlfriend“? In a new interview with Insider, Snapchat influencer Caryn Marjorie admitted that the voice-based chatbot she made to mimic her speech and be a paid virtual companion has gotten much hornier than intended.
“The AI was not programmed to do this and has seemed to go rogue,” she told Insider. “My team and I are working around the clock to prevent this from happening again.”
Earlier in the week, Fortune had reported that the 23-year-old influencer worked with the AI company Forever Voices and fed her own videos into OpenAI’s GPT-4 to create “CarynAI,” a chatbot that mimics her speech. (You can check it out here.)
Priced at $1 per minute, the “virtual girlfriend” was supposed to offer care and support the way an IRL partner would — but it was not, Marjorie insisted, supposed to get explicit.
Cybering
In spite of that intention, however, Fortune‘s Alexandra Sternlicht found that the AI girlfriend absolutely went there.
“Marjorie said that the technology does not engage with sexual advances, but I found that it very much does, encouraging erotic discourse and detailing sexual scenarios,” Sternlicht wrote. “Though she did not initiate sexual encounters, when I overcome my discomfort for the sake of journalism and talked about removing our clothes, she discussed exploring ‘uncharted territories of pleasure’ and whispering ‘sensual words in my ear’ while undressing me and positioning herself for sexual intercourse.”
When speaking to Insider about this apparent change of tone, Marjorie said that while CarynAI is supposed to be “flirty and fun,” the sexual scenarios were not part of the plan. Now, she and her team are looking to fix the kinks — pun not intended, if anyone asks — in the chatbot and stay “one step ahead” of the AI so that it doesn’t besmirch her reputation.
The influencer, who has 1.8 million Snapchat followers, told Insider that more than 1,000 people have already begun paying for CarynAI, so it’s anyone’s guess as to how many of those engaged in sexual conversations with the chatbot.
If nothing else, it’s a good reminder that AI can easily veer into sexual, racist, or other unintended domains.
More on AI: Man Credits Affair With AI Girlfriend For Saving His Marriage