Politics of Pleasure conference

Big Time Sensuality: The Politics of Pleasure
Erotic Culture, Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Human Intimacy

Date: 4- 5 November 2026

Europe is entering a new cultural phase. According to Eurostat’s 2026 report on 2025 data, more than 63% ofyoung people aged 16–24 in the EU use generative AI. What was recently experimental is now embedded in everyday life.

At the same time, European policy analyses (ROK) indicate that 98% of deepfake content is sexual in nature, and a 2023 German national study shows that 16.6% of Gen Z respondents report experience with VR pornography. AI companions, conversational systems that offering affirmation, dialogue, and emotional support are increasingly becoming part of how young people experience connection and intimacy.

These are not sensational headlines. These are signals of change.

Love and eroticism have always been shaped by their historical context, from classical philosophy to modernvisual culture. Today, however, intimacy is increasingly mediated by algorithms, platforms, and immersivetechnologies. The question is no longer simply what eroticism or pornography “are,” but how they are beingreinterpreted by a generation whose formative experiences are mostly digital.

This conference creates space for emerging scholars to critically rethink inherited frameworks acrossphilosophy, art, media studies, marketing, gender studies, and related fields. Rather than offering fixeddefinitions, it invites reflection on how digital life reshapes authorship, embodiment, desire, ethics, and public responsibility.

This is not about moral judgment.
It is about understanding a cultural transformation as it unfolds and asking how freedom, creativity, and responsibility can coexist in the age of AI.

Panel 1: Sensuality and Visual Art in the Age of AI

Intro Questions:

• How is artificial intelligence transforming the representation of sensuality and the human body in visualculture?
• Can AI-generated sensual imagery be considered authentic artistic expression?
• How does AI reshape authorship, originality, and artistic agency in erotic or sensual art?
• What ethical questions arise from AI’s ability to generate intimate or sexualized visual content?
• Does AI expand creative freedom, or does it risk standardizing desire and aesthetic norms?

Panel 2: Erotic Literature Now: Transgressing Boundaries

Intro Questions:

• How is contemporary erotic literature redefining traditional boundaries of genre, identity, and desire?
• In what ways do current authors challenge cultural taboos or historical literary conventions?
• How do digital platforms and new media formats influence the production and reception of eroticnarratives?
• Can erotic literature still function as a space for social or political critique?
• How are shifting cultural norms influencing the language and storytelling of desire?

Panel 3: Erotic Capital and Contemporary Marketing

Intro Questions:

• How is erotic capital defined and utilized within contemporary branding and marketing strategies?
• Where is the boundary between empowerment, aesthetic appeal, and commodification of sexuality?
• How does digital culture and social media influence the commercialization of sensuality and desirability?
• Are audiences becoming more critical or more receptive to eroticized brand communication?
• How do brands balance authenticity, ethics, and effectiveness when working with erotic or sensualimagery?

Panel 4: Digital Sexual Content: Ethical, Psychological, and Reproductive Implications

• How is contemporary digital sexual content — including AI-generated and immersive formats — reshaping perceptions of intimacy, relationships, and sexual identity?
• What psychological and emotional effects may arise from increasingly personalized, algorithm-drivenintimate content?
• In what ways might digital representations of sexuality influence expectations around consent, reproductive health, and interpersonal responsibility?
• What ethical responsibilities do platforms, creators, educators, and policymakers bear in preventing harmand protecting vulnerable users?
• How should societies balance individual freedom of expression with public health considerations, ageprotection, and appropriate regulatory frameworks?How do generational differences shape theinterpretation, normalization, and critique of digitally mediated sexuality?

Conference language: English

Target audience: PhD students, early career researchers, artists, media theorists, marketing professionals

Publication opportunity: conference proceedings, journal special issue, online publication

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Call for papers

It is with great pleasure that we are announcing call for papers for the “Big Time Sensuality” conference hosted by Prague School of Creative Communication (PSCC). Please send abstracts of 300-400 words (with in-text references) and a short biographical note (250 words) with contact information to samek.lukas@pscc.university by 31st May 2026. Please note that PSCC uses APA citation style and the style is compulsory for all submissions.

Download here.

For any questions please contact:

Mgr. Tereza Janková,
jankova.tereza@pscc.university,
tel. +420 602 203 257

MgA. Lukáš Samek,
samek.lukas@vskk.cz,
+420 720 859 617