K-POP fans are well known a force that cannot be ignored On the Internet, some fans develop intense loyalties and passions for particular artists. On social media, some obsessive fans are using generative AI to create what is essentially self-insert fan fiction: creepy videos and images of their favorite idols kissing, cuddling, and making love of all kinds. The result is a modern, technologically-enabled mutation of idol culture that has taken fan art to new extremes, and many in the K-pop fan community are understandably upset about it.
Users on Reddit and various K-pop forums have expressed outrage over these deepfake fantasies, urging other fans to report people who use AI tools to generate non-consensual videos of K-pop excitement. in one thread On the K-Pop Uncensored subreddit, a user posted an edited screenshot from another fan’s AI-generated video showing him being hugged and kissed on the cheek by Kyung-ho of the underage boy group CORTIS. “Some fans may think it’s harmless, but if you tolerate this, you’re opening the door to something even worse in the future,” Reddit user wbu_lizzie wrote in the thread. “Idols don’t agree with this. They are real people living their lives and not a bunch of wattpad/ao3 characters.”
“People have been cutting and pasting things like this.[s] “Things last forever, but the more realistic the images, the more psychologically dangerous they become,” user Goldie_Prawn wrote. another thread Calling for the uncensored use of AI in K-POP. “Even with traditional Photoshop, I think the work and skill required gives creators a degree of mental buffer that doesn’t exist with AI.”
Professor Sarah Keith from Australia’s Macquarie University, who has conducted extensive research on K-pop fandom, said AI deepfake videos come from a long legacy of fan-generated content that extends far beyond the K-pop world. Fan fiction and art have always been important elements of fan culture, and while these creations often circumvent copyright lines, they are usually not considered creepy or exploitative. But with the advent of generative AI tools that can quickly create realistic images and videos of real people, Silicon Valley has built technological workarounds to laws and social norms around consent.
“K-pop fans (like all pop culture fans) have been actively producing fan materials about their favorite idols for years. However, so far, these have not been ‘convincing’ as artifacts that may have involved the idols themselves,” Keith told 404 Media. “This is a parallel issue that involves both fans and AI tools. These two factors increase the ability of fans to create large amounts of content that does not respect idols’ personal integrity and can be distributed online in ways that damage idols’ reputations (such as sexual deepfakes).”
While many fans spoke out against these creepy acts, others pointed the finger of blame at the K-pop industry’s business model, which fosters a parasocial fandom while exploiting many artists and fans alike.
“This is a sad side effect of an industry that has existed for many years. [has] You forced a parasocial relationship on your fans,” Serious-Wish4868 wrote. thread At r/kpop, we thought about the sexual expression of idols using AI. “What do you do when idols and companies are constantly forcing you to live out your romantic and sexual fantasies with them in everything you do, from social media posts to live interactions?” [you] What do you expect to happen?
However, some entertainment agencies (called companies) that manage K-pop artists and the artists themselves have expressed that they are not satisfied with the situation. The members of the popular K-POP group are bangtan boys and Tomorrow x Together They are speaking out against the use of generative AI to create digital simulations using artist likenesses. In March, OA Entertainment, the label founded and represented by Blackpink member Jennie, announced that warned in a press statement The company says it will begin to take “strong legal action, including civil and criminal proceedings, against acts that infringe on artists’ reputations, rights, portrait rights, and other intellectual property rights.” The statement, which was issued in response to incidents of harassment and stalking by artists, strongly hinted at the issue of AI-generated content without explicitly mentioning it.
At the same time, many of these idol talent companies are adopting generative AI tools as a means of reducing costs across the industry. SM Entertainmentone of South Korea’s largest labels representing major artists such as Girls’ Generation and Super Junior, describes the integration of generative AI as a core part of its business strategy, and last year released a music video for girl group Aespa that was completely AI-generated. And last December, in the K-Pop world, Completely synthetic idol group It’s called GLXE (pronounced “galaxy”), and it combines AI-generated songs with creepy AI avatars.
“If they could make money, they would automate the whole industry,” says Lindsey Knuth, a K-pop fan and the magazine’s deputy editor. tangle newsHe told 404 Media. “For me, porn deepfakes of minor idols are a problem, as is the (lack of) industry response.”
Cultural tolerance for fan-generated AI slop varies by region and context. current korea Ranked #1 in AI slop content consumptionas the country’s technology industry drives technology adoption and cultural acceptance. However, in the United States, polls consistently show that a majority Young people have very negative opinions about AI tools And as workplaces, schools, and institutions pressure and coerce the use of AI, increasingly anti-AI trends are emerging.
Keith points out that labels and talent agencies have always been proactive in protecting artists and their reputations, but only from the perspective of protecting their investments. Fans, on the other hand, are generally more emotional and tend to protect their idols as humans from both creepy fans and the companies themselves.
And, as with AI and technology in general, the lack of technical or legal safeguards for the technology is also a problem. many well documented harm has made social shaming one of the only effective deterrents against abusive behavior in the K-pop world.
“It’s heartening to see so many fans publicly criticizing the non-consensual use of AI and deepfakes, because in the absence of technical guardrails for this kind of content, what really matters is social acceptance,” Keith said. “Yes, it is encouraging to see that many active fans online have created a culture of respect where idols’ likenesses are not used in non-consensual ways.”
