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One could argue that such an outlet could even reduce incidents of direct sexual assault of children by pedophiles, but there is also a counter-argument that it would instead serve to "whet the appetite" and encourage such behaviour. And of course there are other counter-arguments; it could make actual CP more difficult to detect, for one. Finally there is the argument from the perspective of fundamental morality, that depicting children in a sexual manner is wrong in and of itself, and therefore the various potential effects are irrelevant. (Much like it's wrong to murder an innocent, even if you could harvest their organs and save five others as a result.)
I don't think those two scenarios are usefully similar. Murder is wrong because of its effects. This would be more like if you could murder someone without _anyone_ dying.
I have to say though that this argument starts making a lot more sense with current VR tech. Sometimes it's really disgustingly realistic.
While I'm still not in favor of banning violent games, I do think a valid argument is emerging. I've never truly had a feel of fright playing on a 2d screen but since VR the spiders headcrabs of Half Life Alyx really make me panic sometimes.
On the csam side I'm just not sure if this would diminish or increase their interest. I would leave that up to someone who studied for this kind of insight.
2. Efforts to stamp out real child abuse may be undermined by a flood of AI-generated false positive imagery
3. When people see something over and over again they start to think that it's normal. AI generation of this kind of material (something which can be done at a huge scale) risks normalizing the sexual abuse of children.
I'm sure there are many other arguments beyond these.
Don't get me wrong. I have a built in revulsion toward CP. But I wonder how much is that built in revulsion helping vs hindering rational discussion - just like it took me like 15 years of reading and pondering to remove the indoctrinated deference I had toward religion, and I hope I can have a more stable, less knee jerk discussion about religion. I think CP is wrong, but I also Think murder and torture are wrong. The latter two are amply represented in entertainment media. What is the Venn diagram, what is the delta that makes cp different?
Currently? The fact that all the models need training data and the law will see that as victimizing the people who were used in the data set be they adults of children.
Overall? The fact that it's disgusting and pedophiles deserve things which I can say IRL and everyone agrees with, but on HN will get me banned.
Many countries ban underage anime porn too. Children and their likeness are off limits.
But its not hard to find many other sexual acts that at least some people, if not most people, find disgusting. So I'm not sure disgust is a useful criteria here.
Most of what makes pedophilia so disgusting is the fact that a child is involved. Remove the child from the equation and it's more in line with other sex preferences.
People can't really control their preferences. We've grown to understand that there are healthy, and unhealthy ways to satiate those preferences. Most of those revolve around the consent of those involved (taking as fact that children cannot consent.)
One could argue that AI allows for a healthy outlet for a pedophile.
You mention children being off limits. In other societies homosexuality is still criminal. Even where it is legal many consider it "off limits" or "disgusting". Laws, and emotions, in this space are not always logical.
There will be second-order arguments (think - the gays are trying to turn my child gay) but most of them fundamentally misunderstand how human sexuality works.
In fact in a lot of those countries where fully consensual homosexuality is highly illegal, marrying (with all its implications) what we would consider a child is legal and "normal" and so is forced/arranged marriage (again with all that implies). I'm really lucky to have grown up here.
As a complete aside, forced marriages are not the same as arranged marriages. In many cultures arranged marriages (which seem completely bonkers to someone grown up in a western mindset) are both common, work well, and often good.
Clearly neither arranged marriages, nor "choice marriages", are guaranteed. The divorce rate in the west bears this out. Both work well, both work badly.
Again arranged is not the same as forced - clearly forced marriages are not something I consider a good thing.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrongful_execution
Encouraging state violence based on the fact that something is "disgusting" is not a good idea. Law needs to be grounded in concrete harm. The lines currently seem ill-defined, and existing laws in this area have been used against children (see State of Washington v. E.G., where an autistic child was charged and convicted with distribution of child pornography for taking a selfie and sending it to an adult).
As something you generate in a photorealistic image generator you are building a business around?
The fact that it is a serious crime in many jurisdictions and, even where it isn’t, photorealistic child porn images that get noticed anywhere or going to result in uncomfortable conversations for everyone involved in the process of establishing that they aren’t evidence of a crime.
Paedophilia is not synonym for child sex abuse, and to the extent that conjecture hasn't been ruled out by study already, that's at most an argument that its an appropriate function for tightly-controlled research-supporting tools, not a general public business.
Blatant disregard for children aside, the larger issue here is the presupposition that we should someone permit all urges. Not every thought that passes through your brain should be “explored”; some thing are just bad and should be fought.
Keep in mind that science can tell any story you want it to tell as long as you interpret the data in the way you need. That’s why some things, such as our children, cannot be left to slippery slopes such as this.
We’ve already got more than enough data proving that pornography is absolutely destructive and a net negative on all of humanity. I don’t think we need additional data to prove that bringing kids into the mix would somehow make it better.