OpenAI's latest model, GPT-4o, sounds a lot like a digital girlfriend. Some sex workers are rolling

• OpenAI on Monday announced its new chatbot model, GPT-4o, with voice and vision abilities.
• The reveal quickly prompted jokes about digital girlfriends, and parallels to the movie "Her."
• Some sex workers are embracing AI as a way to make their jobs easier and safer.

OpenAI's new GPT-4o model sounded more than a little flirty in its demo released Monday.

The announcement of the new chatbot, which boasts voice and vision abilities, quickly prompted parallels to the 2013 movie "Her" — in which Scarlett Johannson voices the artificially intelligent love interest of Joaquin Pheonix — and jokes about society coming a step closer to normalizing 100% digital companions.

"OpenAI wants you to want to bang your smartphone," Scott Woods, the blogger behind Whole Mars Catalogue, quipped on X in response to a post-demonstration post by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman that read, simply: "her."

OpenAI wants you to want to bang your smartphone https://t.co/VEpkz2Dem3

While some speculate that the opportunity to flirt with a chatbot could change how the world views romance and relationships and potentially alter how the sex work industry operates, some in that line of work are enjoying innovations in AI that they say make their jobs both easier and safer.

Linda, a phone sex operator, told Business Insider that artificial intelligence is being adopted by some in the sex work community, and she now regularly sees AI-generated images on profiles of fellow phone sex workers.

Linda was granted anonymity to speak freely about her work and maintain her privacy. Her identity has been verified by BI.

"I kinda want a chatbot sometimes to deal with timewasters," Linda said, adding that slow conversations often begin with simple hellos and other pleasantries she'd rather skip. A chatbot, she said, would help her "make that $15-20 in chat fees just doing boring small talk without the boredom or loathing."

Major creators like OnlyFans titan Kaitlyn "Amouranth" Siragusa have already embraced the power of AI bots. Last summer, Siragusa launched her own chatbot for fans to interact with for $1 a minute, offering an artificial version of her voice to indulge in explicit conversation. Following the launch, she told Polygon the tech would simplify her job and protect her from overly-attached fans.

Others have adopted the tech to boost customer satisfaction by creating a log of personal preferences and details from past conversations, and The New York Post reported earlier this year on a brothel in Berlin run entirely using AI, virtual reality, and robotic sex dolls.

"It's not for everyone, but, honestly, I think it's great — like you want a sex robot, guys — here ya go! " Linda said.

Representatives for OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Watch: What is ChatGPT, and should we be afraid of AI chatbots?

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