AI-generated child sex abuse images, videos rising at alarming levels, warn internet watchdogs
AI-generated sexual images of children are seeing an alarming rise
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is being used at alarming levels for generating child sexual abuse material (CSAM), with analysts saying that it has reached a tipping point.
The watchdog group Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) said that the creation and distribution of AI-generated CSAM are becoming increasingly sophisticated too.
Unlike in the past, these images and videos are finding their way into public online platformsas opposed to the Dark Web, the internet underbelly accessible only through special browsers like Tor.
Watch: US Prosecutors Intensify Action Against AI-Generated Child Abuse Images
The increasing photorealism of AI-generated visuals is making it difficult for authorities and watchdog agencies to figure out if these are images of a real child needing help, a situation described by an IWF analyst as a 'tipping point'.
What set alarm bells ringing is that just within the past six months, the number of instances of reported AI-generated child sex abuse imagery crossed what it was in the whole previous year.
In this period, the IWF acted on 74 reports of such content, a sharp rise from 70 in all the 12 months prior.
What's more disturbing is that the AI tools creating these images are trained on real victims' content, complicating efforts to identify genuine cases needing intervention, according to Derek Ray-Hill, the IWF interim chief executive.
“Recent months show that this problem is not going away and is in fact getting worse,” The Guardian newspaper quoted him as saying.
Also read: UN report exposes 'extreme levels' of child abuse in armed conflicts, especially in Gaza and Sudan
The abuse content ranges from real-looking deepfake videos to altered inappropriate images of clothed children.
More than half of the flagged material is hosted on servers in Russia and the United States, besides Japan and the Netherlands, according to IWF.
The disturbing news comes amid increasing criticism of social media apps over offering safe haven to abusers, and sextortion.
Also read: New York Catholic diocese to pay $323mn to 530 child sex abuse survivors, in largest US diocese bankruptcy
Users on platforms like Instagram are being blackmailed after being tricked into sharing intimate images, according to the Guardian report.
The image-sharing platform owned by Meta is reportedly launching measures to combat such crimes.
It will automatically blur nude images sent via direct messages and caution users about opening them. They will also have the option to block or report senders of such images.
The feature will be enabled by default for teenage accounts while adults can opt in to join.
(With inputs from agencies)
