The Fight Against AI Continues, and The UK is Leading it
In February 2024 in North Carolina, a child psychiatrist was caught utilizing AI technology to “digitally alter clothed images of minors into child pornography.” It is difficult to convey into words the horrifying impacts AI technology can and is having on individuals. Describing how it felt to see an image of her 15-year-old self “sexualized,” one woman explained that a memory that was once “cherished” has become a different memory, “one that elicits nausea, fear, and overwhelming discomfort and distrust within [her].” The innocent memory she is describing is one where she was waiting for the bus so that she could attend her first day of school. That image of her as a child was turned into an exploited, sexual image because of AI tools. Another victim could not put into words the feelings she experienced when she was shown images of her “15-year-old naked body.”
The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) started keeping a record of the number of these AI-generated images in October of 2023. Over 23,000 AI images were produced and transmitted to the dark web. The Protection of Children Act, one of the United Kingdom’s child protection laws, criminalizes the “taking, distribution, and possession of an ‘indecent photograph or pseudo-photograph of a child.’” Of the 23,000 AI-generated images, nearly 3,000 of those images were “pseudo-photographs.”
More recently, in July of 2024, the IWF again tracked the number of sexually abusive AI images representing children. They discovered that over 3,000 new images had been published, further illustrating how pressing it was to combat the production, growth, and spread of these images. It is evident that the number of these images will only continue to rise as AI technology grows more advanced and due to the introduction of Deepfakes, deceptive AI-generated images that appear incredibly realistic, but are completely fake.
This is an area where the technology doesn’t stand still and our response cannot stand still to keep children safe.
The UK has just become the first country to make it a crime to “possess, create, or distribute artificial intelligence (AI) tools that generate sexual content targeting children” due to the rapid increase in the production of this imagery and the dangerous harm it is facilitating. Additionally, the UK has also made it unlawful for anyone to possess “AI paedophile manuals” which provide instructions on how to employ AI technology to create this abusive sexual content targeting children. Furthermore, the UK has also imposed criminal liability on the individuals who control or operate the websites that share these images. When expressing the importance of drafting the law, The Secretary of State for the Home Department of the UK asserted that “[t]his is an area where the technology doesn’t stand still and our response cannot stand still to keep children safe.”
It’s apparent that while the UK law is the first step in prioritizing and protecting children from this type of harm, the nature of the internet and AI technology creates gaps that the law alone is unlikely to seal. A professor argued that the law needed also to prohibit the use or access of “nudify apps”- applications that take clothed images of girls and completely alter them into realistic nude photos. That same professor also critiqued the lack of regulation over sexual videos that involve adults who portray or appear as much younger kids because they “look very young and are shown in children’s bedrooms.” These types of videos continue to normalize child sexual abuse. The law also fails to address all the current AI imagery promoting sexual abuse that is still accessible and shared on the dark web, an area that isn’t easily searchable. Ultimately, protecting children from this type of harm is not limited to the enactment of the UK’s law, but it is a crucial starting point.
Moreover, while a large number of states in the U.S. have enacted legislation targeting the misuse of AI to create sexually abusive imagery directed at children, the U.S. has not yet passed a uniform set of AI laws similar to the U.K. The lack of a uniform law may lead to inconsistency among the states or uncertainty in how to apply the law which may not be as efficacious. The U.S. should consider following the UK’s lead in creating a comprehensive set of AI laws to better protect children from AI manipulated media that is perpetrating sexual abuse and violence.
Mahin Mughal
Mahin Mughal attended North Carolina State University where she majored in Design Studies and minored in History. Her hobbies include hiking, creative writing, and playing Badminton when she can. She is currently a 2L at UNC Law and is part of JOLT.