The problem of male students creating 'deep nudes' of girls using generative AI apps is becoming more serious
In 2023, male students at Westfield High School in New Jersey, USA, shared nude
Teen Girls Confront an Epidemic of Deepfake Nudes in Schools - The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/08/technology/deepfake-ai-nudes-westfield-high-school.html
Francesca, a 15-year-old student at Westfield High School, was a victim of an incident in October 2023, when she was 14 years old at the time, in which a male student at the same school used AI to generate sexual images of Francesca and others and share them with other students. However, it has been reported that the road to relief is difficult, as the law has not kept up with new technology.
The problem is that there is almost no way for high school girls who have fallen victim to 'deep fake porn' that uses AI to synthesize faces and naked bodies to have a life-altering effect - GIGAZINE
Francesca's family criticized the school for not publicly addressing the incident or updating its policies to prevent the use of AI, even as half a year has passed since the incident occurred.
'The Westfield High School administration and the school district appear to be performing a masterclass in sweeping this incident under the rug,' her mother, Dorota Mani, told board members at the meeting.
The school said it immediately began an investigation after the incident was discovered, notified police and had the students attend group counseling sessions. 'All school districts are grappling with the challenges and impacts of artificial intelligence and other technologies on students,' Westfield School District Superintendent Raymond Gonzales said in a statement.
According to Mani, the Westfield High School incident began in the summer of 2023 when a male student asked to be friends with a 15-year-old female classmate who had a private Instagram account. After the female student accepted the request, the male student obtained photos of several female students, including the female student, from social media and used an AI app to create sexually explicit images showing their faces and shared them with his classmates on Snapchat, court documents state.
Francesca and her mother Dorota Mani were interviewed by The New York Times.
Francesca said the school began its investigation in late October, when administrators quietly summoned several male students for questioning while making an announcement over the school's internal announcements to summon the female victims, including Francesca.
That same week, Westfield High School Principal Mary Asfendis sent an email to parents about 'an incident that has resulted in the spread of misinformation.' In the email, she described deepfakes as a 'very serious incident.' However, despite lingering concerns among students that the images were being shared, the school said, 'All images that were created have been removed and are no longer in circulation.'
The school district later told Mani that it had suspended the boy accused of creating the images for a day or two. 'We need to start updating our school policies about this,' Francesca said. 'If the school had a policy governing AI, students like me would have been protected.'
Experts warn that the issues of deep fakes and deep nudes could harm victims' physical safety, mental health, and reputations through harassment and bullying, and could have a negative impact on their educational and employment prospects. In March 2024, the FBI issued
However, student misuse of AI apps is a new problem for schools, and educational institutions are struggling to respond.
A symbolic incident that illustrates this is the deep nudity incident that occurred at Issaquah High School in Issaquah, Washington in November 2023. In this case, the police who were investigating the case after receiving a report from the parent of the victim asked the vice principal, 'Why didn't the school report it to the police?' The vice principal responded by asking, 'What are you reporting?' according to the police report.
The school, which was unaware of the problem, only reported the incident to Child Protective Services after police told them that schools are required by law to report sexual abuse, including possible child sexual abuse.
'This phenomenon has emerged so suddenly that it's no surprise that many school districts are unprepared and unsure of what to do,' said Liana Pfefferkorn, a researcher at Stanford University's Internet Observatory who specializes in the legal issues surrounding digitally generated child pornography.
The problem is not limited to high schools. In February 2024, five male students at Beverly Vista Middle School in Beverly Hills, California were found to have shared AI-generated explicit images of female classmates. According to documents prepared by the school district, two weeks later, the school board approved expelling the five students. Although state law prohibits confirmation that the students expelled are the students who committed the crimes, the number of male students who committed the crimes matches the number of students who were expelled.
In a message to parents sent by the school after the incident, it said: 'Any students found to be creating, disseminating or in possession of any AI-generated imagery of this nature will face disciplinary action, up to and including expulsion.'
'The creation of explicit images is an alarming act of violence against young girls and their families,' Beverly Hills Unified School District Superintendent Michael Bregie said, adding that he wanted to set a national precedent that the creation and sharing of sexual images of classmates would not be tolerated.
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