Investigators could waste time trying to identify children who do not exist
Real victims of child abuse will be put at increased risk if investigators are deluged by a flood of fake images generated by artificial intelligence (AI), a charity has warned.
The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) – which is Britain’s first line of defence against child pornography pictures – said its analysts “could waste time attempting to identify children who do not exist”.
The organisation is responsible for identifying thousands of illegal images of child abuse each week. When a child is suspected of being in danger, it alerts police in this country or the relevant force if the image is hosted abroad.
Authorities have warned that lifelike sexual pictures of children generated by AI programmes could be created on an industrial scale.
AI technology is spreading rapidly and there has been an explosion in image generation tools that allow people to create photo-realistic pictures in seconds with just a few text prompts.
The majority of programmes do not allow images to be created of a pornographic or illegal nature. However, users have shared hacks online to bypass these restrictions.
Dan Sexton, the IWF’s chief technical officer, told The Telegraph: “If AI imagery of child sexual abuse does become indistinguishable from real imagery, there is a danger that IWF analysts could waste precious time attempting to identify and help law enforcement protect children who do not exist, to the detriment of real victims.
“AI generated imagery is an emerging technology which we are keeping a very close eye on. We know criminals will, and do, abuse any technology they can to distribute and make imagery of child sexual abuse.”
He added that AI images were not a “victimless crime”, and should be removed because they “normalise and ingrain the sexual abuse of children in the minds of offenders”.
