Our team lead, Dr. Jessica Szczuka, recently spent time in Brisbane as a Visiting Fellow at the QUT Centre for Justice, hosted by Prof. Kelly Richards. The stay, supported by a Mobility Grant from the University of Duisburg-Essen, brought together our group’s work on digitalized intimacy with a justice-focused perspective on AI misuse.
While much of our research explores the potential benefits of digitalized intimacy and sexuality, Dr. Szczuka’s work increasingly examines the misuse potential of these technologies, particularly when AI or robots are used to fulfill deviant sexual needs, and whether such systems act as safe outlets or as triggers that normalize harmful behavior.
During her visit, she presented her concept of AI-mediated moral disengagement at the Voicence panel, the idea that AI’s artificial nature can blur moral boundaries, making users feel detached from harm because “no human is involved.”
The visit also sparked a new collaboration: following a talk at the QUT Centre for Justice and QUT Digital Media Research Centre panel on “Intersections of Violence and Technology,” Dr. Szczuka and Prof. Richards are now planning a study on how experts morally evaluate recorded versus AI-generated abuse material — work that addresses the rapid emergence of AI-generated child sexual abuse material as a critical challenge for child protection. The study will explore how AI-generated content changes not only production processes but also the psychological distance between viewer and victim, shaping emotional reactions and moral judgment.
We’re proud to see our research reaching new interdisciplinary audiences and contributing to an evidence-based debate on these pressing issues.
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