School uproar as fake AI nudes of girl pupils are spread by male classmates

02 November 2023 , 20:33

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One mother said she wants to take her child out of the school (Image: getty)

AI-generated images of nude female pupils circled around a group of male students at a school causing outrage among the community.

At least one student from Westfield High School used an online tool to allow them to create the image before they sent them around the school, which is situated in an affluent part area 25 miles from Manhattan, New York City. After a student told her mother that the boys at school were acting strange on October 16, what was going on slowly unravelled.

After rumours swirled one male student told a female pupil on October 20 that deep fake nudes had been created and sent round to others. It is unknown whether staff members saw the photographs.

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The mother of one 14-year-old girl said an image had been created of her, forcing the school to get in touch. She said to the Wall Street Journal: “I am terrified by how this is going to surface and when. My daughter has a bright future and no one can guarantee this won’t impact her professionally, academically or socially.”

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The offence took place at Westfield High School, 25 miles from Manhatten (google)

She no longer wants her daughter to attend the school given there are people there capable of creating such images, and says she has now filed a police report. She is not the only one, with at least three other parents also filing police reports - but just two of them having seen the images. Police have reportedly not seen the images, the New York Post reported.

Principal Mary Asfendis sent out an email to parents on October 20 in which she called the incident “serious”, adding that “new technologies have made it possible to falsify images and students need to know the impact and damage those actions can cause to others”. Westfield Mayor Shelley Brindle said to the WSJ: "To be in a situation where you see young girls traumatised at a vulnerable stage of their lives is hard to witness."

It has not been revealed with which online AI tool the images were created. Deep fake images are becoming rife, and according to visual threat intelligence company Sensity, over 90% of deep fake images produced are pornographic.

Deep fakes have also been used for politically charged reasons, particularly with celebrities. An AI-generated deep fake showed supermodel Bella Hadid, who is Palestinian and a vocal advocate of a ceasefire and the Palestinian cause, expresses support for Israel. Other deep fake images showed Pope Francis in a Balenciaga puffer jacket and former president Donald Trump resisting arrest.

President Joe Biden is taking steps to curb the powers of artificial intelligence after signing an ambitious executive order which attempts to balance the needs of cutting-edge technology companies with national security and consumer rights. They are attempting to form an early set of guardrails, which can later be fortified by legislation and global agreements.

Biden said AI is causing change at “warp speed”, but reaffirmed that it carries much potential - as well as concern. He said: “AI is all around us. To realise the promise of AI and avoid the risk, we need to govern this technology.”

Alex Croft