CHICAGO — With the click of a button, children and women all over the world, and here at home, are being victimized.
AI technology that is so advanced, a user can crop your face and edit it into pornographic images and videos.
“It’s just this free-for-all all. It’s the Wild West at this point,” State Senator Mary Edly-Allen said.
Just last month it happened in Richmond, Illinois, about 70 miles northwest of Chicago. Richmond High School student Stevie Hyder was one of the victims.
“I felt really violated and it was really gross to see. There were so many questions we didn’t have answers to,” Hyder said.
Dozens of female classmates discovered someone had altered their prom photos, making them appear nude, using AI technology.
“In my opinion, I think this is basically, it should be considered child pornography. It’s unacceptable,” Hyder’s mother, Stephanie Essex, said.
On Friday, April 26th, the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office charged two minors with possession of child pornography and distribution of harmful materials to a minor.
According to Deep Trace Labs, a company that monitors AI media, last year there were roughly 500,000 deep fake videos online, compared to only 14,678 in 2021, more than a 3,000% increase. Of those, they found 96% are sexually explicit in nature and target women.
Deep fakes can be used as revenge, to exploit, harass and intimidate, and even extort victims for money.
British filmmaker Reuben Hamlyn spoke with multiple victims as part of his 2023 documentary ‘Another Body’, including one named “Taylor” and found the damage can be devastating.
“She was sent a link by a friend at school which said ‘I’m really sorry I think you need to see this. Upon opening the link she saw her face looking back at her engaged in hardcore pornography,” explained Hamlyn. “These attacks against her sent her spiraling and sent her mental health into a very dark place.”
The filmmakers decided to take their fight with the #MyImageMyVoiceCampaign to Washington DC.
“When we started working in this space it seemed like there was very little hope, but the tides are definitely turning. There are a lot of great minds working in this space and now legislation that will hopefully improve the conditions for women online,” Hamlyn said.
State Representative Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz met the filmmakers last year at the US Capitol and was inspired to introduce bills in Illinois to crack down on generative AI deep fakes.
“That’s what we’re trying to do now is make sure our laws keep pace with technology and people don’t become victim without recourse,” Gong-Gershowitz said.
She teamed up with State Senator Mary Edly-Allen who introduced a bill in 2023.
“We have a product that is harming our youth and we have no guardrails,” Edly-Allen said.
Last year, House Bill 2123 was passed, which allows victims of deepfake porn and digitally altered non-consensual images to sue the creator. A court could also grant temporary restraining orders and injunctions against perpetrators to stop publishing photos and videos. Illinois is one of at least 10 states passing similar legislation.
“The fact we have to make a law to protect our citizens against this is kind of mind-boggling, but because of AI, we have to add that layer to existing law,” said Gong-Gershowitz. “What we need to do is make sure that law enforcement have the tools they need to keep our children safe.”
Gong-Gershowitz recently introduced another bill that would criminalize the creation and distribution of AI deep fakes involving minors.
“The Attorney General reached out to me about updating our current child pornography laws to include digitally altered images. The language in this bill mirrors federal child sexual abuse materials law,” said Gong-Gershowitz.
House Bill 4623 passed unanimously in the Senate on April 19th and is expected to pass in the Senate in the coming weeks. If signed by Governor Pritzker, it would become law this summer.
In January, US Senator Dick Durbin, along with other federal lawmakers, introduced the DEFIANCE Act of 2024. It would allow victims to sue the creators of sexually explicit deep fake digital images in federal court. It was introduced in the US House in March and Durbin hopes it to pass Congress later this year.
“We want all the help we can get. Any legislation at the state level that backs us up is certainly appreciated. We have to do our job at the federal level. The situation is virtually out of control we have to put some standards together to protect innocent people,” Durbin said.
Those fighting for change, say legislation isn’t the only recourse. Cracking down on internet search engines, payment processors on deep fake sites and apps, and chat platforms, that allow the creation and victimization to continue.
“There’s work to be done and a lot of that work needs to be putting pressure on the tech companies which are enabling this culture to grow, enabling this business, this industry to grow. Google for example is driving about 70% of traffic to deep fake sites. They have the power to de-index the sites dedicated to deep fake abuse and they’re choosing not to at this moment in time,” Hamlyn said.
WGN-TV did reach out to Google. In a statement, a spokesperson said in part:
“We understand how distressing this content can be, and we’re committed to building on our existing protections to help people who are affected. We are constantly updating and improving our algorithms and policies to combat these evolving threats.”
Google says that includes users being able to request the removal of deep fake content discoverable in search results. The company also recently improved a system that deletes duplicates of deep fake images and videos.