The recent popularity of AI-powered chatbots like ChatGPT has resulted in many school districts facing a new security threat: nude AI-generated images of teen girls.
The trend appears to have begun last fall in New Jersey at Westfield High School when at least 30 female students there were victimized by one of their classmates who used AI, also known as artificial intelligence, to put their faces on pornographic images, reports ABC7NY. In response, the district quickly suspended the student responsible for creating the images.
In Seattle, an Issaquah High School student used a web-based AI app to “undress” or “nudify” some of his female classmates, reports TweakTown. The photos were then passed around the school, but the school didn’t immediately notify authorities. Instead, police were notified by three parents separately.
In February, 16 eighth graders at Beverly Vista Middle School in Beverly Hills, California, were victimized when some of their classmates used AI to create nude images of the girls. Like in the New York and Washington cases, the images were also passed around the school. The five Beverly Vista Middle School students responsible for the creation and dissemination of the images were expelled.
Similar cases have happened at other schools in California, including Calabasas High School, Laguna Beach High School, and Fairfax High School, reports ABC7.
Lawmakers Are Looking to Address AI-Generated Child Porn
“All school districts are grappling with the challenges and impact of artificial intelligence and other technology available to students at any time and anywhere,” Raymond González, superintendent of Westfield Public Schools, said in the statement to the New York Times.
In response, some states are considering the passage of bills that would target AI-generated child porn, including California, Illinois, and Washington. Additionally, attorneys general from all 50 states wrote a bipartisan letter to Congress asking it to “study the means and methods of [AI] used to exploit children” and to “propose solutions to deter and address such exploitation to protect America’s children,” reports The Hill.
