Scary conversation parents need to have with teens amid 'tidal wave' of AI deepfakes
By Maddison Leach|
Anna Bowden's abuser had to get close to her when she was a child before the sexual exploitation began.?
Today, people like her perpetrator can victimise Australian kids from anywhere. In fact, they can do it with the click of a button.
The advancement and accessibility of AI technology has triggered a "tidal wave" of sexually explicit 'deepfake' images and videos, and children are among the most vulnerable targets.
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"Accessing and using AI software to create sexual deepfake images is alarmingly easy," Jake Moore, Global Cybersecurity Advisor at ESET, tells 9honey.
From 2022 to 2023, the Asia Pacific region experienced a 1530 per cent surge in deepfake cases, per Sumsub's annual Identity Fraud Report.
One platform, DeepFaceLab, is responsible for about 95 per cent of deepfake videos and there are free platforms available to anyone willing to sign up with an email address.
They can then use real photos of the victim (usually harmless snaps from social media accounts) to generate whatever AI image they want; in about 90 per cent of cases, those images are explicit, according to Australia's eSafety Commissioner.
"We've got cases of deepfakes and people's faces being used in images which are absolutely and utterly horrific," reveals Bowden, CEO at the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC) Astralia.
This technology wasn't around when she was abused and it horrifies her to know it's already being used to victimise Aussie kids, many of whom have no idea they're at risk.
"We don't talk about it," she says. "There's no information. There's no idea of what offenders are doing, what we need to look out for.?
"We're helping criminals because we're not communicating."
Despite the spike in deepfake cases, 79 per cent of Aussie social media users confessed they struggle to identify AI-generated content online, per a 2024 McAfee survey.?
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Many parents don't understand the power of AI and the dangers it can pose, so they don't know how to protect or educate their kids.
The worst part is that sometimes children can be perpetrators too.
ESET has recognised a surge in teen AI sextortion cases where teens are generating non-consensual, explicit images and videos of their peers to impress, bully, or intimidate others.
"Constant exposure to online content has desensitised many young individuals, reducing their understanding of the real-world consequences of their actions," Moore explains.
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Teen perpetrators can be punishable under Australian law, but the victim may experience shame, fear, humiliation, loss of self-esteem, financial loss, and damage to their social standing.
"Just because those images or videos are AI generated does not mean they're harmless," Bowden says.
This kind of image-based abuse can cause mental and emotional distress, and some victims die by suicide. The worst part is that the deepfakes may never go away.
Advocate Noelle Martin was 18 when she discovered fake non-consensual images of her online and years later, the photos and videos are still online.
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"This can destroy someone's entire identity and reputation, their name, and image, and self-determination, and dignity. It can define that person forever," she told 9honey.
A deepfake image or video of a child can spread rapidly and can be almost impossible to have removed from the internet.
Most social media platforms ban non-consensual explicit content, but AI-generated pornography slips through due to the sheer volume of content being posted.
"This makes it difficult for moderators to remove such content quickly enough, while users are swift to share, save, and screenshot these images," Moore notes, revealing they're often shared through private channels.
Earlier this year social media sites struggled to remove an explicit Al-generated image of Taylor Swift from their platforms.?
The images were viewed more than 45 million times in 17 hours.
Now imagine if the target was your child, not the biggest celebrity in the world.
It could end up in the hands of child predators seeking out explicit content, who could then use the deepfake to generate even more vile non-consensual photos and videos bearing the face of an Aussie child they've never met.
Bowden describes it as "incredibly traumatic" and warns "it could be around for decades, if not longer.
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Thankfully, organisations like ICMEC, ESET, and the Australian eSafety Commissioner are working to combat this.
"It's evolving so quickly that as we create solutions, the technology changes, and then we need a new solution again," Bowden says.
She works with Australian organisations, government and law enforcement to prevent deepfakes and other child sexual exploitation online, but says parents need education too.
That means learning about the risks of AI, explaining them to children in age appropriate ways, and teaching children basic online safety precautions.
It's an uncomfortable conversation and one many Aussies would rather not have, but silence won't help.
"It's just terrifying how low the level of awareness is and how high the risk is," Bowden adds. "We cannot keep just hoping this is going to go away."
Moore advises parents to maintain open communication so their children know they can speak up if something happens.
"If a child becomes a target of AI-generated porn, parents have to remain calm and reassure the child that they are not at fault," Moore adds.
"It is crucial to document all evidence and report the incident to the relevant authorities, such as the school and the police [and] contact the platform hosting the content to request its removal."
AI isn't going to go away, but deepfakes can be tackled and eradicated.
That will require an increase in awareness about the dangers and legal implications of sharing sexual content online, as well as tougher regulations to deter potential offenders, and more accountability from online services.
It will take work and the landscape of AI is changing rapidly, but Bowden is certain that "if the good guys all get together and want to make change, we can outnumber the bad guys".
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