The new age of sexism How AI and emerging technologies are reinventing misogyny

Many regard artificial intelligence as a panacea, but Bates, founder of the UK's Everyday Sexism Project, warns that "the inequalities and oppression of our current society are being baked into its very foundations." She breaks down deepfakes, the metaverse, sex robots, AI girlfriends, and more, and describes the ramifications of each piece of technology. It's not great for women and girls. Proponents contend that a man could, for example, visit a cyber brothel and act out all of his worst sexual impulses on a robot instead of a real-life woman. But there's no evidence that this behavior doesn't escalate to real-world violence. Never mind that the technology takes away women's autonomy: deepfakes and image-based sexual abuse (aka "revenge porn") victimize women whose images are used for harm. The New Age of Sexism is a disturbing read--Bates doesn't shy away from the language and scenarios she witnessed in her research--but she ends with a chapter on promising solutions. As in Men Who Hate Women (2021), Bates presents another necessary deep dive into twenty-first-century misogyny.

Cyber-brothels staffed by sex dolls, submissive AI girlfriends, and deepfake porn are just some of the ways that new tech is being put to misogynistic use, according to this eye-popping exposé. Feminist activist Bates (Men Who Hate Women) shatters the "glittering promises of a shiny new-and-improved future society" by uncovering the lurid, sexist underbelly of recent advances in tech. Pinpointing the 2010s explosion of revenge porn as the forerunner of a new wave of online misogyny, she explores cutting-edge forms of abuse, subjugation, and discrimination, such as women being "virtually assaulted" in the metaverse, sex robots "designed to encourage their users to act out rape fantasies," and AI recruitment tools that prefer male applicants. The book is partly a vibrant recounting of Bates's own investigations, including a covert visit to "the first immersive cyber brothel in Europe" (where she felt "she stepped into a crime scene"). She also chillingly describes the panic attack--inducing experience of being sent deepfake pornographic images of herself. Imbuing her account with a pressing sense that humanity is "standing on the edge of a precipice," Bates incisively argues that society must "acknowledg there isn't an acceptable level of human sacrifice" for "the launch of a new... product," and that current fixes offered by tech companies, which place the onus for action on victims, are insufficient. This is a disquieting, Cassandra-like plea for a future that doesn't simply automate misogyny forever. (Aug.)