By John DiGirolamo | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice
Make The Terminator fiction again. Perhaps it’s not a coincidence that the movie was released in 1984. The Hollywood hit focused on the sinister power of artificial intelligence in the form of a killer cyborg robot who looked human.
With billions of online images, AI can use that data to easily generate realistic-looking people. It’s difficult to tell the difference between an AI created image vs. a real person. Unfortunately, people are using this powerful technology to exploit children, all while sitting in the comfort of their own chair.
Artificial intelligence has already wreaked havoc on today’s children. Digitally generated or altered images are commonly known as “deepfakes.” Here’s some examples of how children and adults are exploited.
Most of it is still legal.
AI can create child pornography images, known as Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) in several ways:
- Undress: AI programming can utilize an innocent picture of anyone in a normal setting with their clothes on and alter the image to remove their clothing. A quick search easily finds a popular website which instructs the user to simply upload the picture, for a custom undressing. The website promises that “no one will see your actions.” They don’t seem concerned about the privacy of the person in the picture. This is one of many websites with such capabilities.
- Superimpose: AI can superimpose (e.g., Photoshop) an image of someone’s face onto a person in a pornography or other video, so the victim appears in the explicit content.
- Age Progression: AI will alter a picture to make a person look older or younger. Those with nefarious purposes will use an adult’s picture and convert it to appear as a child and then use another program to remove the clothes or superimpose it into an explicit video. Some are taking a child’s photo to make them look older to steal their identity.
- New Content: AI can create brand new images, completely fake, of people of any age, gender or physical characteristic. Thus, pedophiles can create their own explicit content of fake children.
It’s bad enough that predators create images for their own deviant purposes, but many will use the created “fake” images or videos to blackmail, cyberbully and extort the victim. The predators may be a complete stranger or can be known by the victim, including classmates. Teens who’ve never shared an explicit image of themself can be targeted by predators using generative AI image creation.
AI chatbots are the latest trend, where someone has a relationship with a virtual girlfriend or boyfriend.
On a popular website’s home page, there is a button to choose whether the user wants to view “mature” material. The “girlfriend” is customizable and even with the mature button turned off, the captions associated with your new “companion” were provocative, such as, “I’m heartbroken & hopeful” and “Hot and ready to please” and “I’m a doctor and you are my patient.” Clearly, they’re hoping to entice somebody with more than just companionship.
There are many websites with this capability, with virtually no control or oversight whatsoever.
The “Take it Down” Act (2025) will help. This new law criminalizes the non-consensual online publication of intimate images, including those generated by AI (“deepfakes”). It also mandates a “notice-and-removal” process for online platforms, requiring them to remove such images within 48 hours of a victim’s request. This is great, assuming the websites comply.
The capabilities of artificial intelligence can be truly frightening. Anyone of any age can become a victim. Take a deep breath and consider:
- Start With the Facts: Explain how deepfakes impact our world, not just with digital images, but news stories, audio recordings and social media posts.
- Harm Intended: Discuss how explicit content is harmful to the general population and the specific people targeted, bullied or extorted. Sharing both real and altered explicit images has become prevalent at the high school level.
- Trauma: Ensure your teen understands that not everything online is real, but the trauma experienced by a victim is very real. Online exploitation often leads to depression and\or self-harm.
- Promote Digital Literacy: Equip your teens to identify misinformation. Encourage them to question the media source before believing it.
- Reduce Digital Sharing: Limit what your child and you post online. Most parents innocently share photos and videos of their kids at sporting events, vacations and birthday parties. Even with privacy settings, child predators search the internet for images that they can use to create explicit content.
- Communicate: Encourage your kids to tell a trusted adult if they, a friend or anyone else are being exploited, coerced or extorted. Talk about these sometimes difficult or awkward situations often. Emphasize that many online relationships are fake.
- Resources: Check out https://www.thorn.org/ for more information about deepfake nudes and how to talk to your kids about digital safety.
AI can be useful and productive, such as with coding, building a website or summarizing a business meeting.
Parents first need to be aware of the dangers so they can protect their children and equip them to defend themselves.
John DiGirolamo is a speaker and critically acclaimed Christian author of four books, featuring stories of police officers, spiritual warfare, human trafficking advocates and survivors and a pro-life doctor. His third book, It’s Not About the Predator: A Parent’s Guide to Internet & Social Media Safety, is a practical 65-page booklet to help parents keep their kids safe online. The book details the predator’s playbook, grooming tactics, and specific proactive actions for parents. John is the Board President of Bringing our Valley Hope, whose objective is to end human trafficking in central Colorado through education and survivor support. He’s also on the parent council of Defend Young Minds, a nonprofit that equips parents to defend their children from the harm of pornography. John is a member of the Chaffee County Patriots, and his books are available on Amazon. More information can be found: https://itisnotabout.com/
Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in commentary pieces are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the management of the Rocky Mountain Voice, but even so we support the constitutional right of the author to express those opinions.