The State of South Carolina has proposed a bill that seeks to outlaw child pornography generated by artificial intelligence.
According to reports on 11 February, the bill is in response to the rising wave of child sex offenders exploiting AI to create videos of child sex abuse.
If passed into law, the bill will extend the state’s restriction on the creation, possession, and distribution of child sex abuse materials to cover AI-generated ones as well.
How sexual predators exploit AI
According to the report, child sex predators use AI to create explicit child abuse materials the same way anyone uses the technology for other purposes.
This is done either by using an existing picture of a real child as a seed for AI to generate explicit material, or by using prompts to generate the materials.
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) executive director Jennifer Newman said:
“They can use this technology to create an image and say, ‘Do I like this or do I not like this?’ Which we know, unfortunately, if they do like this, what that’s going to lead to, They’re going to end up looking for more imagery online. They’re going to want the real thing and unfortunately they may even commit a hands-on offense.”
The internet Crimes Against Children Chief Criminal Investigator Kevin Atkins also said his department has received several reports but when analyzed and found to be AI generated, the case must be dismissed, but he hopes that changes soon.
He adds that there are currently five bills in the State House that would make AI-generated child sexual abuse material, also called morphed images, illegal.
“Some people may say that’s just a picture – just an artificially created picture. I think if you are relying on those images to get by, so to speak, how long can you last on just fake images before you need to move on to the real thing?”
Although similar bills have been submitted in the past, none have been passed, therefore if passed, this will be the first time the bills are passed to curb the abuse of the technology.
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