> But when watching normal porn, I think part of the thrill for many/most people is knowing that what's happening is real.

I'm wondering how true that is.

Obviously, lots of people consume hentai, and platforms like Danbooru are immensely popular.

Also, speaking personally... some of the porn that I've consumed that felt the most "real" was 3D animations where the only real humans behind them were the SFM artists (and voice actors). These artists felt free to do scenes with, like, actual cinematography, with flirting and teasing and emotions between the characters, of a kind you never see even in softcore live-action porn.

So I do wonder how much potential AI generation has for completely substituting large parts of the porn industry.