After 6 months of work from our very small team, while continuing to put out new smutty stories each week, we finally replaced the final piece of AI content in our library with fully human-made creative.
Not gonna lie, it was difficult. But it was so, so worth it. As AI content floods the market and the line between what’s “real” and what’s “not” becomes harder to distinguish, being transparent about this choice as a company feels critical.
How did we get here?
Mission is at the core of everything we do. Yes, it’s keeping you all fed with hot M/M erotica and spicy queer threesome content and salty Scottish hunks. But behind that is our team’s shared belief that people of all identities deserve a safe, positive way to explore and affirm their desires. And that seeing your own identity and experiences reflected in erotica is a powerful thing.
We are a small, scrappy team. And we like it that way! We craft every story with the utmost care, collaborating with writers, artists, voice actors, and marketers to bring it to life on the Dipsea platform. And we know our community appreciates it, because the biggest piece of feedback we hear from you all is “MORE!”
So for a time, we experimented with using AI voices and AI-generated art in order to meet the growing demand from our community, while putting our small team’s resources toward script and audio creation.
How we decided that AI wasn’t for us
We believe that the inherent human-ness of intimacy is what makes it so powerful. It’s complicated and messy, just like all of us.
At Dipsea, it’s those very tiny, human details that make our stories feel magically alive. It’s the extra turn of phrase a writer adds in at the last minute, or the hitch in a voice actor’s breath midway through a recording, that always seems to elevate a story from hot into something truly erotic. So we felt that when it came to those AI-assisted stories, there was something missing.
We also believe great creative work deserves fair pay. Our commitment to working with exceptional creatives and compensating them properly is central to who we are. Using AI to replace creative labor doesn’t align with that ethos.
More about how we used AI
Audio: A portion of our library (less than 3% of 1,200+ original stories) used AI voice simulation created in partnership with our actors. Actors decided how their voice would be used and were compensated with an upfront fee to create a virtual version of their voice and an ongoing monthly retainer for continued licensed use. Creating a virtual voice did not replace in-person recording. We continued to cast, record, and collaborate with these same actors in our studio, just as we always did. All AI-voiced content was clearly labeled with a “Virtual Voice” tag in the app.
Art: 204 pieces of art out of 1,200+ were made with AI.
Scripts: Our stories have never been written by or with AI. Our scripts have always been written and edited by real people.
How we replaced AI content on the Dipsea app
Over the last 6 months, we contracted a group of voice actors and freelance producers to help us re-record all content that was previously created with virtual voices. We also contracted multiple artists to re-create the 204 illustrations that were previously done with AI.
Then, we manually uploaded each new-and-improved piece into our library, to meet our self-imposed deadline of a 100% AI-free library by the end of June.
And you know what? The stories and artwork are so, so much better for it. If you want to peek at the series we re-recorded and removed AI voices from, they are:
Hear from the team who made it happen
“I think the biggest thing that can’t really be captured is how much work this takes. Yes, we’ve allocated the financial resources, but in many ways, that’s the easiest part. We are a small team, who 3 years ago decided to use AI in an experimental manner, and realized down the road that it didn’t quite line up with our values. There are only two of us on the creative team who write & produce all of the content on our app (along with an amazing pool of creative freelancers!), so balancing reproduction of all of the AI content, even if it wasn’t a lot, while keeping up our normal production calendar was…tricky!” - Kara, Senior Audio Producer
“AI art and voices were really experimental at Dipsea. Not something that made up a big part of our offering. And still, it just didn’t really sit right with us. Running this project with Kara, working with artists, and voice actors, really re-confirmed our suspicion that the creative work our voice actors and artists do and make is really complex and not something that AI can replicate well.
In many ways, AI art and voices are the opposite of personal, it’s an amalgamation of many sources. It’s also pretty bad at getting the details right, which is something we care about a lot. We spend a lot of time thinking about where to add in a little casual laugh or sigh. Our artists pay close attention to our scripts and casting decisions when making illustrations.” - Olivia, Editorial Lead
Thanks for being on this journey with us. We are so grateful to have a community who’s invested in the work we do, and who shares our values. Let us know your thoughts below!!
Stay sexy.
This is absolutely WONDERFUL news to hear!!
Great pivot and honest reveal. I like to see how things are changed in companies when the work no longer reflects the values or company ethos and when companies come clean on something they’ve tried but didn’t work. BRAVO! BRAVA!! BRAVE!!