Erotic chatbots, synchronized video and voice devices wowed visitors at a sex toy expo in Shanghai this weekend, as Chinese adult product firms join the global AI craze.
China is the world’s largest producer of sex toys, and the country’s entrepreneurs have fully embraced AI tools in other sectors.
Although some businesses at the trade show said they were wary of the legal risks posed by machine-generated sexual content, others were keen to tout their improved wares when AFP visited on Friday.
Banners scattered throughout the large exhibition hall advertised a Guangzhou-based company’s Luvmazer app for AI dating, which turns conversations with virtual partners into vibrator pulses.
“One sentence can make you shudder,” the banners promised.
A life-size cyberpunk-inspired silicone doll with metal joints lay in a large display case in the Cydoll booth, which factory manager Zhou Yuanqing said was a prototype designed to display “natural” emotions and speech.
“People nowadays don’t go out to drink or meet their friends, and they may prefer to play games on their phones or computers by themselves… but they still need company,” Zhou told AFP.
Multiple sex toy companies have introduced apps that use machine learning to interpret adult videos and translate them into pressure, speed, and pulse pattern changes—features that were rare innovations just a few years ago.
“Everyone has the video sync feature now,” an employee at teledildonics firm Amorlink told AFP at the company’s stand, which displayed vacuum cups fitted with powerful computing chips.
A two-in-one suction vibrator exhibited by domestic condom giant Jissbon meanwhile featured long-distance remote control capabilities, a list of virtual “lovers” and the ability to adjust frequency and intensity to environmental noise levels.
Regulatory risks
Numerous businesses offered artificial intelligence agents for marketing and offline operation of adult stores, while others promoted technology solutions for brands trying to make their toys “smart”.
A poster for Hong Kong-based metaXsire, which did not have a booth at the expo, boasted an “adult image and video generator” and dirty chat in more than 80 languages.
The company’s website says its app can swap the faces of celebrities or personal acquaintances into pornographic videos, which are then synced to its toys.
The app’s terms and conditions prohibit customers from using it to embarrass or harass others, but did not detail how the company would secure consent for the face-swapping feature.
But many exhibitors in attendance on Friday said they were wary of mixing artificial intelligence content and adult videos, due to legal and privacy concerns.
Pornography is technically illegal in mainland China, and most adult video sites are blocked by the country’s Great Firewall and cannot be accessed without specialized VPN software.
Sam Xie, founder of Shanghai-based adult toy maker Magic Motion, said his products were compatible with AI agents, but he had to be selective when choosing software developers to partner with.
“We have to be very careful, or there could be all kinds of problems and we could be reported by consumers,” Xie told AFP.
