Adult worker of 30 years speaks out on new ‘disturbing’ trend

An adult worker who has been in the industry for three decades has said she's 'already losing money' over a new trend which is putting her entire career at risk.

Over recent months, there’s a particular ‘disturbing’ trend that’s became the forefront of discussions around technology.

From questions raised over the use of Elon Musk’s Grok on X to people falling for more and more AI-generated ‘influencers’, the use of artificial intelligence has quite a dark side.

While the likes of OnlyFans is readily available for accessing adult content, some people have decided to essentially create their own.

However, it’s not totally been in good taste, with some users making disgusting requests for the production of sexualised images of women and children.

And one sex worker of 30 years has spoken out on the trend of using AI to make fetish videos with her likeness, which means the 'labour and payment' from making the content herself 'disappears'.

She says that the AI craze is losing her money (Getty Stock)

Melissa Todd is a writer, performer and professional dominatrix who says it’s ‘quicker to find pictures of me naked online than to invent some’.

However, she has still found that people are using the tools to ‘undress’ her.

“It feels less like desire and more like novelty: the thrill of making something yourself,” she wrote for Metro.

“And this new footage highlighted how easily my likeness can now be lifted, altered and reused.”

The sex worker points out that the key word in all of this is ‘consent’ as she adds that she did get asked by a client if they could use a clothed image of her to create a clip of her being covered in goo.

However, even with the consent given, it made her ‘pause’ as it was so odd to see her face ‘animated into a scenario’ she hadn’t actually been in.

But the problem really does arise with people using AI platforms without any consent of just about anyone. Outside of the creation of images of children, much of the criticism comes of AI platforms generating inappropriate images of people who usually have no idea that it’s even happening.

'Consent shouldn't disappear' (melissa_r_todd/Instagram)

“There’s also a huge difference between choosing to sell something and having it endlessly replicated without your involvement,” Melissa said. “Consent shouldn’t disappear just because technology makes things convenient.”

The sex worker has had around four clients a month asking if they can use her face for AI content ‘as if they’re no different from commissioning custom content’.

And while she isn’t aware of anything yet happening without her consent, she is aware of friends who have discovered AI-generated images circulating on platforms they’ve never used.

“Even when the images aren’t particularly convincing, the lack of consent — and the lack of control — is unsettling,” Melissa added.

Plus, with her working in this industry, she said that this AI craze is ‘already losing me money’.

“When AI can simulate the result, the labour and the payment can disappear,” Melissa explained. “The value of what we do risks being slowly eroded. Not overnight, but through lots of small decisions made for convenience.”