WASHINGTON — The Washington Post on Tuesday published a feature about recent developments in AI avatars, foregrounding Sophie Dee’s virtual companion SophieAI.
“Sophie Dee’s artificial-intelligence doppelganger talks like a sparkling conversationalist: bubbly, curious, eager to please,” technology reporter Drew Harwell writes. “It never sleeps or takes vacation, and it even creates fake selfies that make Dee look younger, bustier and blemish-free.”
Dee, who developed SophieAI with startup STXT, tells Harwell that after two decades in porn, she is “happy to outsource some of her identity for a less demanding revenue stream.”
“Models, adult models especially, are like athletes in a way,” Dee explains. “During our porn years, we don’t get residuals, there’s no health insurance, you just get one check, and you never know when it’s going to end. Now I just feel like, with the AI, I can continue. Even if I decide to stop one day from shooting adult stuff, it can carry on.”
The article surveys the history of chatbots and image generators, delving into the current state of the sector. Harwell notes that Meta has launched chatbots for Snoop Dogg, Paris Hilton, MrBeast and Kendall Jenner, and that KISS “ended its final farewell tour this month with the debut of four ‘immortal’ digital avatars, built on motion-captured footage that will keep playing the band’s hits for live audiences.”
Harwell reports that Dee sees AI companions “as a way to free herself from the relentless grind of digital sex work, in which she must regularly create photos and videos, promote herself on social media, manage financial and technical issues, and chat with paying fans.”
Dee concludes by noting that, thanks to AI, “generations of Sophie” will always be available, and that they will only get better with time.
To read “Creators, Porn Stars Turn to AI Doppelgangers to Keep Fans Entertained,” click here.