You completely ignored the “state controlled generation and access” part of the argument. Experience with addictive drugs has shown us that tightly controlled access, oversight and possibly treatment can be a much better solution than just making it illegal. The truth is that we just don’t know if it would work the same with CSAM, but we do know that making it a taboo topic doesn’t work.
There’s no parallel here. Providing safe access to drugs reduces harm to the user and the harm done by the black-market drug trade. Normalising AI-generated CSAM might reduce the harm done to children during production of the material but it creates many more abusers.
The parallel only works if the “state controlled generation and access” to drugs was an open shop handing out drugs to new users and creating new addicts. Which is pretty much how the opiate epidemic was created by drug companies, pharmacists and doctors using their legitimate status for entirely illegitimate purposes.
Normalising AI-generated CSAM might reduce the harm done to children during production of the material but it creates many more abusers.
The problem with your argument is that you assume a bunch of stuff that we just don’t know, because we haven’t tried it yet. The closest thing we do know are drugs, and for them controlled access has proven to work really well. So I think it’s at least worth thinking about and doing limited real-world trials.
And I don’t think any sane person is suggesting to just legalize and normalize it. It would have to be a way for people to self-report and seek help, with conditions such as mandatory check-in/counseling and not being allowed to work with children.
The closest thing we do know are drugs, and for them controlled access has proven to work really well.
Controlled access to drugs does work well. But legalising AI-generated CSAM is much more analogous to the opiate crisis, which is an unmitigated disaster.
Says me. And I explained exactly why. Feel free to engage with that argument.
