Prosecutors in every state are working to crack down on AI child exploitation

The attorneys general of all 50 US states, as well as 4 territories, have signed a letter calling on Congress to take action against AI-based child sexual abuse content (CSAM).

“While Internet crimes against children are already actively prosecuted, we are concerned that IA is creating a new frontier for abuse that makes such prosecutions more difficult,” the letter states.

Indeed, AI makes it easier than ever for bad actors to create fake images, which realistically portray people in fake scenarios. Sometimes the results are benign, like when the internet was tricked into thinking the pope was wearing a fashionable Balenciaga coat. But in the worst-case scenario, as attorneys general point out, this technology can be exploited to facilitate abuse.

“Whether the children in the source photographs of the deepfakes are physically abused or not, the creation and circulation of sexualized images depicting real children threatens the physical, psychological and emotional well-being of the children who are victimized, as well as that of their parents. “, we read in the letter.

The signatories are pushing for Congress to create a committee to research solutions to address the risks of AI-generated CSAM, and then expand existing laws against CSAM to explicitly cover AI-generated CSAM.

Non-consensual and sexually exploitative AI deep fakes are already proliferating online, but there are few legal protections for victims of this material. New York, California, Virginia, and Georgia have laws that prohibit the spread of AI deepfakes for sexual exploitation, and in 2019 Texas became the first state to ban the use of AI deepfakes. AI to influence political elections. Although major social platforms ban this content, it can slip through the cracks. In March, an app purporting to “turn any face” into suggestive videos ran more than 230 ads on Facebook, Instagram and Messenger; Meta removed the ads once notified by NBC News reporter Kat Tenbarge.

Abroad, European lawmakers aim to work with other countries to ratify an AI code of conduct, but negotiations are still ongoing.