AI-generated child pornography images abound on criminal forums, study finds. The association that produced it, the Internet Watch Foundation, is alarmed by this observation, especially since real people sometimes appear in these images.
The arrival of generative artificial intelligence has revolutionized many fields – from writing, notably with ChatGPT, to art or photography, as with Midjourney. But there are also darker areas that AI is radically changing — and that’s exactly what happened with child pornography.
Since the end of 2022 and the democratization of these technologies, many experts have been alarmed by the use of these tools by child criminals. According to a study carried out by the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) association published on October 25, 2023, their fears prove to be justified: child pornography images produced by AI abound on certain forums.
“ Thousands of AI-generated images showing children, some as young as two, subjected to worst forms of sexual abuse have been discovered », warns the IWF. But other photos, just as scary and created by AI, will soon present a new problem: images created from real people.
Rape images created by AI
To carry out its investigation, the IWF examined a dark web forum and the images shared on it for a month. Of the 11,108 AI-generated photos showing images of child abuse, 2,978 depicted acts of sexual abuse, and 564 depicted acts of rape, sexual torture, or bestiality.
“ Of these images, 2,562 were so realistic that the law should treat them the same as if they were real images of abuse », Specifies the study. “ More than half (1,372) of these images depicted children of primary school age (seven to ten years old)”, and “143 images depicted children aged three to six years old, while two images represented babies (less than two years old). »
These figures, which concern only one forum, are already very high — and “ the manufacturing method » of these images is particularly disturbing. Indeed, if some images are generated ex nihilo, based only on very specific prompts and by creating photos of people who do not exist, others were created from images of real individuals.
The IWF explains in its report that the faces and bodies of real children were ” integrated into AI models designed to reproduce new images of these children “. The IWF report states that forum users then shared tips for “ fine tuner » artificial intelligence, that is to say, training them to produce the content they desired with the bodies and faces on which it had been trained. Some AI has been trained on photos of real abuse. “ Children who have been raped in the past are now being thrust into new scenarios because someone, somewhere wants to see them “, explains Susie Hargreaves, director of the IWF.
According to the IWF, criminals on these forums also use AI to rejuvenate celebrities, and thus depict them as children in child pornography images and scenarios. This is not the first time that AI has been used for these purposes: pornographic deepfakes have existed for years. These videos generally depict stars, whose faces have been pasted onto the bodies of pornographic actresses, in X-rated videos. In the case of these AI-generated images, the celebrities in question are entirely recreated by the software, and appear in the scenarios specifically wanted by the criminals.
The IWF explains that AI can be used to “ undress » children, who appear in normal photos or videos posted innocently on the Internet. “ Analysts found that this content was commercialized », Specifies the study.
“ International collaboration is vital. This is an urgent issue that requires immediate action. If we do not address this threat, this material risks overwhelming the Internet », alerts Susie Hargreaves. State collaboration on this type of subject is necessary, but more will be needed to stop the criminals: generative artificial intelligences are easily accessible, and therefore easily diverted.
In France, the legal framework is in any case very clear with regard to photos of a child pornography nature: article 227-23 of the Penal Code provides for up to 5 years in prison and a fine of 75,000 euros for images that present a “ the image of a minor ” with a “ a pornographic character “. This is true even in cases where the minors represented do not exist: in 2007, the Court of Cassation decided that “ non-real images depicting an imaginary minor, such as drawings or images resulting from the transformation of a real image » were affected by the law.
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