Even though study participants were able to distinguish between real and artificial intelligence (AI) generated nudes, they found synthetic images to be more sexually attractive and aesthetically pleasing.
A study published in Archives of Sexual Behavior included 649 participants – mostly men – who identify as attracted to women. They were aged between 18 and 91.
They were asked to assess six categories of images depicting naked female figures: computer-generated imagery (CGI) photographs of real women, AI-generated women, women with surgically enhanced lips, breasts, and hips, silicon sex dolls, and hentai, which is Japanese pornographic manga.
Each category contained five naked female figures with different characteristics and body types. The participants were then asked to rate images of realism, sexual attraction, aesthetic appeal, and valence (emotional affect).
Although real images scored highest for realism, participants found AI-generated images to have the highest aesthetic value, while their subjects were judged as most sexually attractive and elicited more pleasant valence.
Older participants found CGI- and AI-generated nudes to be more realistic, while real and AI images were more aesthetically appealing and sexually attractive, as indicated by scores assigned by younger participants.
Meanwhile, younger participants rated hentai significantly higher in aesthetic value, sexual attractiveness, and pleasantness compared to older participants.
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The images rated as less real, such as surgically enhanced, sex doll, and hentai, had the lowest ratings across all measures.
The findings come as generative AI is increasingly used to create deepfake pornography, accounting for 98% of all deepfake videos. Women are the main target, as they are depicted in 99% of deepfake porn videos, according to a 2023 report.
In early 2026, around three million sexualized images were produced by Grok, the social network’s X in-built chatbot, provoking a global outcry. Of those digitally undressed images, 23,000 depicted children, according to the Center for Countering Digital Hate.
At the same time, a growing number of people are turning to AI for romance. A 2025 survey found that 28% of Americans have had an intimate or romantic AI relationship, ranging from a sexy casual chat to a committed relationship.
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